Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PB. Stephens boosted their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

PB opened at $70.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $76.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.15. Prosperity Bancshares has a 1 year low of $57.16 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 45.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prosperity Bancshares

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.04, for a total value of $38,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,388,352.60. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $418,095. 4.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 190.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.