Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Takes $7.50 Million Position in Sierra Bancorp $BSRR

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 184,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BSRR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $249,473,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $17,865,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $15,678,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,576,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,465,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ BSRR opened at $39.49 on Thursday. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $26.49 and a one year high of $43.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.75 and a 200 day moving average of $37.92. The company has a market capitalization of $511.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $38.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.59 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 22.37%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.58%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,252.01. This represents a 31.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BSRR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

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.