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

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $78.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of PB stock opened at $73.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.25 and its 200 day moving average is $73.12. Prosperity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $57.16 and a 12 month high of $86.75.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 25.39% and a return on equity of 6.46%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. This is a boost from Prosperity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prosperity Bancshares

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total value of $40,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,815 shares in the company, valued at $9,269,093.60. This trade represents a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman H E. Timanus, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $346,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 229,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,890,934.50. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,117,424 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 533.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 3,147.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 701 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Prosperity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 190.0% during 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. 80.69% of the stock is currently 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.