Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 7,896 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. $PB

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 127.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,106 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,896 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PB. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 175.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,383,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516,939 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 910.4% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,311,051 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,295 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 149.0% during the 1st quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,107,877 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,427,000 after purchasing an additional 662,877 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,822,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,645,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.36.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

PB opened at $74.55 on Thursday. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.06 and a 52-week high of $77.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.33.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The bank reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $391.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $380.73 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 29.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.59%.

Insider Activity at Prosperity Bancshares

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total value of $37,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 71,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,343,911.30. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $859,253. Corporate insiders own 3.96% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Profile

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.