Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR opened at $37.91 on Tuesday. Sierra Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.42 and a 12-month high of $38.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.91. The company has a market capitalization of $504.20 million, a PE ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.12. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 20.96%.The company had revenue of $39.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.04 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lynda Scearcy sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,054,655. This represents a 14.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Cindy L. Dabney sold 3,443 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $110,176.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,880. This trade represents a 34.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 10,143 shares of company stock valued at $338,544 in the last 90 days. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 10,046 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $784,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,057,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $243,000. 55.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.