Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 705,100 shares, a decrease of 19.7% from the March 31st total of 878,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 199,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.80. 49,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 196,020. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Banner has a twelve month low of $39.31 and a twelve month high of $55.66.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Banner’s payout ratio is 39.92%.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 923.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banner in the third quarter valued at approximately $690,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banner in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 33.3% in the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 7.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 13,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BANR. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Banner from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Banner from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Banner from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Banner from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Banner from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.20.

Banner Company Profile

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.