Short Interest in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Drops By 8.8%

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 54,700 shares, a decrease of 8.8% from the January 15th total of 60,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 47,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $35,328.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,024. The trade was a 20.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $110,987.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $386,540.35. The trade was a 22.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,668 shares of company stock valued at $146,346. Corporate insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 301.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 12,690 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 40.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 65,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 19,025 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,619,000 after purchasing an additional 21,558 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BSRR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $31.08 on Wednesday. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $35.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.87 and its 200 day moving average is $29.58. The stock has a market cap of $447.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 11.55%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.59%.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.