Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, an increase of 13.8% from the December 15th total of 887,700 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 233,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price target on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $67.00.

Banner Price Performance

BANR stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.11. 218,561 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 197,526. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $70.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.00. Banner has a 52-week low of $42.00 and a 52-week high of $78.05. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.09.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.12. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Banner will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Banner's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banner

In other Banner news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of Banner stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,330,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 43,398 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,073,000 after purchasing an additional 11,808 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Banner in the third quarter valued at approximately $439,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Banner by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,413,000 after purchasing an additional 29,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Banner by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,785,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $106,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,434 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans.