Short Interest in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Rises By 46.3%

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,822,511 shares, an increase of 46.3% from the January 29th total of 3,980,071 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,755,776 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,755,776 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PB has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.77.

Insider Activity at Prosperity Bancshares

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 600 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $42,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,432. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Leah Henderson sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $76,650.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,075 shares in the company, valued at $589,475. This trade represents a 11.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 15,050 shares of company stock worth $1,075,486 in the last three months. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prosperity Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PB. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 231.1% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 53,875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after buying an additional 37,602 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 554,502 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,945,000 after acquiring an additional 226,232 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 634.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,371 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 14,141 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Prosperity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,488,000. Finally, Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 39.0% during the second quarter. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Down 3.0%

PB traded down $2.18 on Friday, reaching $70.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,724,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,354,446. The company has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.67. Prosperity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $61.06 and a fifty-two week high of $77.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.86.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $317.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.30 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 31.22% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.88%.

Prosperity Bancshares Company 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.