Short Interest in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Expands By 27.9%

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, an increase of 27.9% from the May 31st total of 2,190,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 492,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 144,994 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,819,000 after buying an additional 100,579 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 359.3% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 247,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,793,000 after purchasing an additional 193,953 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 884,734 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,923,000 after purchasing an additional 89,617 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 157,131 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,642,000 after purchasing an additional 49,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,693,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $656,512,000 after purchasing an additional 53,844 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

Prosperity Bancshares stock opened at $61.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.12. Prosperity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $49.60 and a 52 week high of $68.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.03. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $420.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 51.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PB shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.86.

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.