Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Price Target to $29.00

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BSRR. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Sierra Bancorp from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. StockNews.com cut Sierra Bancorp from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 4th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $29.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $433.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $16.75 and a 1-year high of $31.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.54 and its 200 day moving average is $20.70.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $51.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 17.77%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 38.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other Sierra Bancorp news, EVP Michael Olague sold 4,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.29, for a total value of $105,944.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,353 shares in the company, valued at $698,858.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSRR. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 67,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after buying an additional 14,320 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $280,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 118.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 43,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 7,260 shares during the period. 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.