Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ BSRR traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.33. 40,836 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,049. Sierra Bancorp has a 52-week low of $17.69 and a 52-week high of $35.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.13. The firm has a market cap of $450.96 million, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.89.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $52.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 17.91%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Sierra Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $85,814.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at $343,729.30. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total transaction of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at $9,081,462.60. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,154 shares of company stock worth $330,556. Insiders own 11.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BSRR. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,737,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 14,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,675,000 after acquiring an additional 3,531 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company's stock.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.