Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Sells $20,648.00 in Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 725 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $20,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382.72. This trade represents a 79.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $28.40. The company had a trading volume of 7,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,273. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.80. The stock has a market cap of $396.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $17.69 and a 12 month high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. On average, analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BSRR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSRR. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 321,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,278,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,619,000 after acquiring an additional 21,558 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 176,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 28,495 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 131,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,794 shares during the period. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.