Canaccord Genuity Group Lowers Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) to Hold

Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has $21.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $27.00.

PINC has been the subject of several other research reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Premier has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of PINC stock opened at $19.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.39. Premier has a 12-month low of $18.65 and a 12-month high of $28.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $338.55 million. Premier had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. Analysts expect that Premier will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.43%.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PINC. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Premier by 8,726.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,275,000 after acquiring an additional 370,192 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Premier in the first quarter valued at $418,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 1,496.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 94,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 88,800 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Premier by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 46,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 15,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Premier by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 104,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Company Profile

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.