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

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a growth of 27.3% from the February 13th total of 1,210,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 513,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PB traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.84. 660,725 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 522,559. The company has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. Prosperity Bancshares has a one year low of $57.16 and a one year high of $86.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.27.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 26.79%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business 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 3.28%. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PB. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prosperity Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.50.

Insider Activity at Prosperity Bancshares

In other news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.04, for a total transaction of $38,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 110,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,388,352.60. This trade represents a 0.45 % 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. Insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $421,905 over the last ninety days. 4.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 190.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

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.