Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 760,224 Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. $PB

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 760,224 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $53,398,000. Norges Bank owned 0.80% of Prosperity Bancshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in Prosperity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Prosperity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 1,251.4% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 973 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 16.8% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PB. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group downgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Prosperity Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.21.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

Prosperity Bancshares stock opened at $70.66 on Friday. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.06 and a fifty-two week high of $82.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.05.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.45. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 30.28% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The firm had revenue of $314.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Prosperity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.10, for a total transaction of $35,050.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 87,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,127,791.50. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harrison Stafford II sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.76, for a total transaction of $56,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 107,937 shares in the company, valued at $7,637,622.12. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 15,100 shares of company stock worth $1,006,458 over the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prosperity Bancshares 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.