Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.99. 42,699 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,612. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.54 million, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.89. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $16.75 and a one year high of $31.85.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $52.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.30 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 14,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.95, for a total value of $436,023.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,265 shares in the company, valued at $534,351.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director Morris A. Tharp sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.26, for a total transaction of $292,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 475,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,900,255.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 14,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.95, for a total value of $436,023.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,351.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,366 shares of company stock worth $1,370,158. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $94,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $142,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.