Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.88.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:PB opened at $76.55 on Wednesday. Prosperity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $57.16 and a fifty-two week high of $86.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.11.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 45.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Harrison Stafford II sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $320,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 107,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,578,459.59. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $41,085.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 111,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,146,753.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,500 shares of company stock valued at $752,665 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PB. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Prosperity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,804,000. Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 228,992 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,503,000 after purchasing an additional 45,177 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 818,744 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,007,000 after purchasing an additional 6,972 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prosperity Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $372,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 3.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 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.