Banc Funds Co. LLC Reduces Position in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Banc Funds Co. LLC reduced its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 369,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61,145 shares during the period. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned about 2.57% of Sierra Bancorp worth $10,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 3,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BSRR stock opened at $31.47 on Monday. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $35.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $452.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.86.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 17.91%. The firm had revenue of $52.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.30 million. Analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 38.10%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $144,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,081,462.60. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total transaction of $81,889.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 150,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,838,031.12. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,056 shares of company stock worth $244,741 in the last 90 days. 11.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sierra Bancorp 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.