Short Interest in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Drops By 22.1%

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 83,400 shares, a decrease of 22.1% from the October 15th total of 107,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 34,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BSRR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ BSRR traded down $0.19 on Friday, hitting $31.33. 40,836 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,911. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.33 and a 200 day moving average of $26.13. Sierra Bancorp has a twelve month low of $17.69 and a twelve month high of $35.13. The company has a market capitalization of $450.84 million, a P/E ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.89.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 17.91%. The firm had revenue of $52.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.30 million. As a group, analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.10%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $85,814.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at $343,729.30. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total transaction of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at $9,081,462.60. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,154 shares of company stock worth $330,556 in the last 90 days. 11.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the 1st 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 period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $94,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $142,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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.