Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Down 21.0% in December

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 60,300 shares, a decrease of 21.0% from the December 15th total of 76,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 41,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BSRR stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.37. 94,102 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,892. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $35.13. The stock has a market cap of $422.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.30 and its 200-day moving average is $28.92.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total value of $81,889.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,838,031.12. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $144,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 313,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,081,462.60. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,056 shares of company stock worth $244,741. 11.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 24.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 14,335 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sierra Bancorp by 21.2% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 46,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 8,033 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.