Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Plans $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th.

Banner has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.4% per year over the last three years. Banner has a dividend payout ratio of 34.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Banner to earn $5.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.1%.

Banner Price Performance

Banner stock opened at $70.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 1.09. Banner has a 52-week low of $42.00 and a 52-week high of $78.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.60.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.11%. On average, research analysts expect that Banner will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BANR. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.80.

Insider Activity at Banner

In related news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Banner

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.