Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Update

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 96,900 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the September 15th total of 79,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 40,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BSRR. StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In related 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 transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total value of $36,259.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,736. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 14,088 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.95, for a total transaction of $436,023.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $534,351.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,366 shares of company stock valued at $1,370,158. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the first quarter worth $94,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the third quarter worth $142,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $28.49 on Wednesday. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $16.75 and a 1-year high of $31.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.36. The company has a market cap of $415.84 million, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $51.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 17.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 39.67%.

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.