Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 48,943 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. $PB

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 44.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 159,871 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 48,943 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $10,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 48.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,122,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $140,797,000 after buying an additional 695,114 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Prosperity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,059,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $957,000. North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 223,943 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $821,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Prosperity Bancshares

In other news, Director Leah Henderson sold 1,050 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $76,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $589,475. This trade represents a 11.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total transaction of $42,048.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 42,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,432. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 15,050 shares of company stock worth $1,075,486 in the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PB shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $77.00 to $74.00 in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut Prosperity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.77.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 3.0%

PB stock opened at $70.33 on Monday. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.06 and a 12 month high of $77.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.66.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $317.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.30 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 31.22% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. 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 Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.88%.

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.