Trexquant Investment LP Sells 16,230 Shares of Banner Corporation $BANR

Trexquant Investment LP cut its stake in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 40.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,230 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Banner were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,047,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,554,000 after acquiring an additional 345,607 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,439,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,776,000 after acquiring an additional 59,653 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 122.8% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,142,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,888,000 after acquiring an additional 630,004 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Banner in the 1st quarter worth about $40,078,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Banner by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 487,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,580,000 after acquiring an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banner Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Banner stock opened at $67.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Banner Corporation has a 1 year low of $53.78 and a 1 year high of $78.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.95.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.03. Banner had a net margin of 21.15% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The company had revenue of $162.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.96 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.17.

Banner 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.