Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Update

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 105,400 shares, an increase of 84.9% from the February 13th total of 57,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 46,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $35,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at $133,024. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $110,987.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $386,540.35. This trade represents a 22.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,393 shares of company stock valued at $166,994 over the last 90 days. 11.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 321,257 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,278,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,619,000 after purchasing an additional 21,558 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 176,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 28,495 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 131,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BSRR. StockNews.com raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BSRR remained flat at $28.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. 22,620 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,978. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $29.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.79. The company has a market capitalization of $397.56 million, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 0.89. Sierra Bancorp has a 52-week low of $17.69 and a 52-week high of $35.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 11.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Sierra Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.59%.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.