Short Interest in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Grows By 28.2%

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

Insider Transactions at Prosperity Bancshares

In related 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 transaction of $346,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 229,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,890,934.50. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leah Henderson sold 1,100 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.24, for a total transaction of $91,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,381. The trade was a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,100 shares of company stock valued at $520,264 over the last three months. 4.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PB. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 157,770 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,646,000 after purchasing an additional 46,593 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Prosperity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $4,804,000. Prospector Partners LLC boosted its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 228,992 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,503,000 after acquiring an additional 45,177 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 394.8% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 9,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 811,772 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,632,000 after purchasing an additional 112,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

NYSE PB traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.73. The company had a trading volume of 221,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,264. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.96 and its 200 day moving average is $69.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.89. Prosperity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $57.16 and a fifty-two week high of $86.75.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $459.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.83 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 25.39%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Prosperity Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $80.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.96.

Prosperity Bancshares Company Profile

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.