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

Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.50.

PB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Prosperity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $102.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.25, for a total value of $37,625.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 109,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,263,578.75. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $418,095. Insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,780,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $736,923,000 after purchasing an additional 44,567 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,586,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $345,575,000 after buying an additional 48,304 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,342,047 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $176,473,000 after buying an additional 32,917 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,708,509 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,162,000 after buying an additional 15,309 shares during the period. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P grew its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 1,220,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,001,000 after purchasing an additional 83,488 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:PB opened at $70.49 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.71 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 1 year low of $57.16 and a 1 year high of $86.76.

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

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

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.