Short Interest in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Declines By 16.8%

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,884,743 shares, a drop of 16.8% from the March 31st total of 5,868,183 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,072,385 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total transaction of $34,795.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 78,615 shares in the company, valued at $5,470,817.85. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,200 shares of company stock worth $914,669. 3.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prosperity Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sepio Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 5,701 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,324 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 10.9% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 5.1% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 3,363 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 5.1% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays downgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:PB traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.32. The company had a trading volume of 978,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,458. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.03. The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Prosperity Bancshares has a one year low of $61.06 and a one year high of $77.20.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $367.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.60 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 7.20%. Prosperity Bancshares’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares will post 6.21 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 41.88%.

About Prosperity Bancshares

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc is a holding company for Prosperity Bank, offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company provides deposit products, business and real estate lending, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, as well as wealth management and trust services.

Originally chartered in 1911 as First National Bank in McKinney, Texas, the organization rebranded to Prosperity Bank in 2009 following a series of strategic acquisitions aimed at deepening its regional presence.