Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Short Interest Up 27.3% in February

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, an increase of 27.3% from the February 13th total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 513,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of PB traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.49. The company had a trading volume of 592,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,029. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.27. The stock has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. Prosperity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $57.16 and a 52 week high of $86.76.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. Equities analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prosperity Bancshares

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.48, for a total transaction of $39,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 110,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,696,761.20. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 5,500 shares of company stock worth $421,905 in the last quarter. 4.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 45,392 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the bank’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 194 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.