Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $39.00 and last traded at $38.6850, with a volume of 6672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BSRR shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research cut Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.84 million, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.76.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $38.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.68 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.67% and a net margin of 22.53%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 30.32%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, CFO Christopher G. Treece sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $381,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,647.10. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 1,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $40,024.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,183.89. This represents a 84.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,000 shares of company stock worth $572,008. Insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,207,000 after purchasing an additional 22,931 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 344,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,673,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,085,000 after purchasing an additional 33,048 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 132,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,346,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 98,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 15,877 shares in the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by 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.