Banner Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.48 (NASDAQ:BANR)

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th.

Banner has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.4% annually over the last three years. Banner has a payout ratio of 34.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Banner to earn $4.89 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.3%.

Banner Price Performance

Banner stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.14. 171,803 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,691. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.56. Banner has a 1-year low of $42.00 and a 1-year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.22%. As a group, analysts forecast that Banner will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.80.

About Banner

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans.