Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 22.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Premier Financial were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PFC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Premier Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Premier Financial in the second quarter valued at about $84,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Premier Financial during the third quarter worth about $200,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in Premier Financial during the second quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Premier Financial during the second quarter worth about $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dennis E. Rose, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total value of $55,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,144 shares in the company, valued at $1,011,309.12. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Premier Financial Price Performance

Shares of PFC opened at $25.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $908.21 million, a PE ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.64. Premier Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $18.63 and a twelve month high of $29.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.04). Premier Financial had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $112.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.55 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.94%.

Premier Financial Profile

Premier Financial Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking services. It offers demand, checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposits and certificates of deposit account registry service; and investment products. The company also provides residential and commercial real estate, commercial, construction, home improvement and home equity, installment, and consumer loans.