Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Holdings in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 383,616 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 94,000 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 1.07% of Premier Financial worth $9,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in Premier Financial by 538.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 68,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 57,707 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Premier Financial by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 30,334 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Premier Financial by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,055,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,780,000 after acquiring an additional 35,682 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 653,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,334,000 after acquiring an additional 49,367 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Premier Financial by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 326,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,684,000 after purchasing an additional 129,913 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

Premier Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

PFC opened at $25.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $901.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.28. Premier Financial Corp. has a one year low of $18.63 and a one year high of $29.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.93.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.04). Premier Financial had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $112.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dennis E. Rose, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Premier Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $55,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,144 shares in the company, valued at $1,011,309.12. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Premier Financial Profile

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.