Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Price Target to $23.00

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) had its target price cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR opened at $20.42 on Tuesday. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.01 and a 12 month high of $23.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average is $19.53. The company has a market capitalization of $299.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $50.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.15 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.11% and a net margin of 17.80%. Research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 38.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the third quarter worth $120,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $280,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 118.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $689,000. 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.