The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Position in Sierra Bancorp $BSRR

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 359,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,362 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 2.75% of Sierra Bancorp worth $12,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,207,000 after buying an additional 22,931 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,465,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 132,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,346,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 98,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 15,877 shares in the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research lowered Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $40.76 on Monday. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.49 and a 12 month high of $43.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.28 and its 200-day moving average is $37.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $533.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.77.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.12). Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.37% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The business had revenue of $38.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.59 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total transaction of $382,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,781 shares in the company, valued at $832,252.01. This trade represents a 31.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 1,053 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $40,024.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,183.89. This represents a 84.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $954,108 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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.