Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Upgraded to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.60.

Banner Trading Up 1.4 %

BANR opened at $60.49 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $63.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.94. Banner has a fifty-two week low of $43.63 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $159.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 97.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 37,390 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,073,000 after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Banner by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,413,000 after acquiring an additional 29,174 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Banner by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

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.