Kevin J. McPhaill, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR), reported a series of stock transactions in a Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing shows McPhaill sold 17,000 shares of common stock for an aggregate amount of approximately $747,145. The dispositions took place between February 6 and February 10, at trade prices ranging from $36.9423 to $37.9776.
In the same filing McPhaill also exercised options to acquire shares of Sierra Bancorp common stock. He obtained a total of 13,098 shares through those option exercises, with a combined value of $549,850. The option exercise prices reported were between $27.11 and $28.21.
Market context in the filing notes the stock is trading at $36.85, which is close to its 52-week high of $38.57. Over the past six months the share price has appreciated 31.4%. InvestingPro data cited in relation to the filing characterizes the company as slightly overvalued at current market levels according to its Fair Value assessment.
Additional corporate information in the filing and accompanying analytics points to active capital allocation decisions at Sierra Bancorp. InvestingPro analysis indicates management has been conducting aggressive share repurchases. The bank has a long history of returning capital to shareholders, having paid dividends for 31 consecutive years. The current dividend yield stands at 2.8%.
On key financial metrics, the company carries a "GOOD" overall financial health score and trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.8, as noted in the disclosures provided with the filing.
Separately, research coverage cited in the filing reflected a favorable reception to Sierra Bancorp's recent quarter. DA Davidson described the results as a "solid overall quarter," and as a result raised its price target for the company from $39 to $44 while maintaining a Buy rating. The firm pointed to an earnings-per-share upside driven by a lower-than-expected negative provision for loan losses as a rationale for the increase.
Sierra Bancorp also announced a 4% increase in its regular quarterly cash dividend, raising the payment to $0.26 per share. The dividend is scheduled to be paid on February 17, 2026, with a record date of February 9, 2026.
The company disclosed an executive transition in its accounting leadership. Cindy Dabney, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, will retire effective January 5, 2026. Christopher Treece, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will assume the role of Principal Accounting Officer following Dabney's departure. The company confirmed there will be no changes to Mr. Treece's compensation in connection with this change.
Collectively the disclosures outline a mix of executive liquidity actions, option activity, capital return initiatives, and an internal accounting leadership succession plan, all occurring alongside analyst commentary upgrading the company's near-term outlook.