Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stake in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Banner were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Banner by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,073,000 after purchasing an additional 11,808 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banner by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,379,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,111,000 after buying an additional 49,457 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Banner in the fourth quarter worth $274,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Banner by 10,213.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,371,000 after acquiring an additional 628,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Banner by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,413,000 after acquiring an additional 29,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BANR shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.20.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR opened at $56.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.94. Banner Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. Banner’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans.