Piper Sandler Cuts Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Price Target to $34.00

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.57% from the company’s current price.

BSRR has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $33.48 on Thursday. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.42 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.37. The company has a market cap of $441.54 million, a P/E ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.12. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 20.96%.The company had revenue of $40.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.04 million. Research analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total value of $28,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,431 shares in the company, valued at $92,207.83. This trade represents a 23.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total transaction of $189,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 302,970 shares in the company, valued at $11,491,652.10. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $402,478 over the last ninety days. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $8,465,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 371.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 64,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 50,714 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 35.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after buying an additional 47,474 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,085,000 after acquiring an additional 33,048 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $784,000. 55.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR) is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.