James Holly Sells 5,000 Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director James Holly sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total transaction of $189,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 302,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,491,652.10. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $36.70 on Wednesday. Sierra Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.42 and a 12-month high of $38.57. 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 capitalization of $488.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $34.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.10.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.04 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the second quarter worth $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3,714.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

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.