Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.00.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BSRR shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lynda Scearcy sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total value of $28,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,207.83. This represents a 23.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $402,478. Corporate insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 10,046 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $784,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 47,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,191. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.42 and a fifty-two week high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.77.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $40.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.04 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 20.96%. As a group, analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

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.