Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Up 21.7% in September

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 96,900 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the September 15th total of 79,600 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 40,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:BSRR traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $28.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,951. Sierra Bancorp has a 52-week low of $16.75 and a 52-week high of $31.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $28.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.36. The company has a market capitalization of $415.84 million, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.89.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $51.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.66%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 39.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at $343,729.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sierra Bancorp news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $85,814.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $343,729.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Morris A. Tharp sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.26, for a total value of $292,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 475,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,900,255.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,366 shares of company stock valued at $1,370,158 in the last ninety days. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,038,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,737,000 after acquiring an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.