Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) Receives Market Perform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $23.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $25.00.

PFC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Hovde Group raised shares of Premier Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $22.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Premier Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

PFC stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,379. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Premier Financial has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $24.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $712.78 million, a P/E ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.40.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Premier Financial had a net margin of 23.67% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The business had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Premier Financial will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Premier Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Premier Financial’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Transactions at Premier Financial

In other Premier Financial news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total transaction of $30,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,411.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Premier Financial by 766.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Premier Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Premier Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $115,000. 66.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Premier Financial

Premier Financial Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking services. It offers demand, checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposits and certificates of deposit account registry service; and investment products. The company also provides residential and commercial real estate, commercial, construction, home improvement and home equity, installment, and consumer loans.