Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.88.

PB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PB opened at $78.47 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.80. The company has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.94. Prosperity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $57.16 and a 52-week high of $86.75.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 45.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Leah Henderson sold 1,100 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.24, for a total transaction of $91,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,381. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman H E. Timanus, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $346,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 229,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,890,934.50. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,100 shares of company stock worth $1,232,559 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 190.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 181.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Prosperity Bancshares

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc operates as bank holding company for the Prosperity Bank that provides financial products and services to businesses and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, money market, and time accounts, as well as and certificates of deposit. The company also offers 1-4 family residential mortgage, commercial real estate and multifamily residential, commercial and industrial, agricultural, and non-real estate agricultural loans, as well as construction, land development, and other land loans; consumer loans, including automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, home improvement, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans; term loans and lines of credit; and consumer durables and home equity loans, as well as loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery.