Sierra Bancorp $BSRR Shares Sold by Private Management Group Inc.

Private Management Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 403,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,569 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Sierra Bancorp were worth $15,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $53,249,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $17,865,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $14,576,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $7,503,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $3,780,000. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, Director Lynda Scearcy sold 12,725 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.75, for a total transaction of $531,268.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,129. The trade was a 78.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcphaill sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.85, for a total transaction of $171,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 63,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,734,129.95. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 39,885 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,757 over the last 90 days. 11.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $41.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $543.70 million, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.75. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $28.35 and a 1 year high of $44.00.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.27. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 25.32%. The company had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.23 million. Research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BSRR. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $47.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Sierra Bancorp Profile

Sierra Bancorp is the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra, a community bank headquartered in Porterville, California. Founded in 1977, the bank serves individuals, families, farmers, small businesses and commercial customers in California’s Central Valley and surrounding communities.

Bank of the Sierra provides a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer and residential lending, commercial real estate loans, business banking, agricultural financing and online and mobile banking.