Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.45 and last traded at $39.3170, with a volume of 15960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BSRR has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 1.7%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $517.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $38.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.68 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.67% and a net margin of 22.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total transaction of $382,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,781 shares in the company, valued at $832,252.01. The trade was a 31.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christopher G. Treece sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $381,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 39,095 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,647.10. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $954,108 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3,714.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 121.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $153,000. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.