Short Interest in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Declines By 19.1%

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the March 15th total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 583,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Up 0.2 %

PB traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.74. The company had a trading volume of 467,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,711. Prosperity Bancshares has a 1 year low of $57.16 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.45.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.92, for a total value of $39,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 107,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,616,574.80. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock worth $402,415. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares in the first quarter worth about $1,938,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 25.1% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,112,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,404,000 after buying an additional 223,355 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 8.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,362 shares of the bank’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares during the first quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. grew its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 2.3% during the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 19,848 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Stephens boosted their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prosperity Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.35.

Prosperity Bancshares Company Profile

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc operates as bank holding company for the Prosperity Bank that provides financial products and services to businesses and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, money market, and time accounts, as well as and certificates of deposit. The company also offers 1-4 family residential mortgage, commercial real estate and multifamily residential, commercial and industrial, agricultural, and non-real estate agricultural loans, as well as construction, land development, and other land loans; consumer loans, including automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, home improvement, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans; term loans and lines of credit; and consumer durables and home equity loans, as well as loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery.