William Blair Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Banner Corporation $BANR

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 664,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,527 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $41,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Princeton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Banner by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 7,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Banner by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Banner by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Banner by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 16,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 7,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Banner by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Banner from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Banner from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Banner currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of BANR stock opened at $64.65 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.85. Banner Corporation has a twelve month low of $57.05 and a twelve month high of $69.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $168.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.60 million. Banner had a net margin of 23.24% and a return on equity of 10.77%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banner Corporation will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This is a positive change from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.02%.

Banner Profile

Banner Corporation, through its principal subsidiary Banner Bank, operates as a regional commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2000 as a bank holding company, Banner traces its origins to community banking roots in Eastern Washington dating back to the late 19th century. Over the past two decades, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services for individual and business clients.