Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) was the target of a large increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 492,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PB. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stephens raised shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prosperity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PB. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 226.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 144,994 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,819,000 after purchasing an additional 100,579 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 247,936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,793,000 after purchasing an additional 193,953 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 884,734 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,923,000 after purchasing an additional 89,617 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 157,131 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,642,000 after purchasing an additional 49,533 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,693,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $656,512,000 after purchasing an additional 53,844 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:PB opened at $60.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.51 and its 200 day moving average is $63.06. Prosperity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $49.60 and a 12 month high of $68.88.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $420.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Research analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 51.61%.

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.