Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Short Interest Update

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a growth of 28.2% from the October 31st total of 1,490,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 555,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James cut Prosperity Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prosperity Bancshares

In other news, Chairman H E. Timanus, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 229,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,890,934.50. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total value of $41,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 114,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,597,887.40. The trade was a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,100 shares of company stock worth $520,264 over the last quarter. 4.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 40.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,411 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 9,935 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Prosperity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $372,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 981 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,708,509 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,162,000 after acquiring an additional 15,309 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:PB traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.73. The stock had a trading volume of 221,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,264. The stock has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.89. Prosperity Bancshares has a 12-month low of $57.16 and a 12-month high of $86.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.74.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $459.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.83 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 25.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Prosperity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 47.56%.

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.