Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

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

PB has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $102.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.50.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PB opened at $70.49 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.15. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. Prosperity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $57.16 and a 52-week high of $86.76.

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

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 45.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prosperity Bancshares

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.25, for a total value of $37,625.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 109,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,263,578.75. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $418,095 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 190.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.