Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Has $519,000 Holdings in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,563 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Premier Financial worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Premier Financial by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,065,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,669,000 after purchasing an additional 48,257 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Premier Financial by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after buying an additional 46,854 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Premier Financial by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 64,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 13,810 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Premier Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $310,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 333.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 268,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,575,000 after acquiring an additional 206,258 shares in the last quarter. 66.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Premier Financial

In related news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction of $31,785.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,695.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Premier Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

PFC stock opened at $20.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.97 and a 200-day moving average of $20.65. Premier Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $15.70 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The company has a market capitalization of $736.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.93 million. Premier Financial had a net margin of 23.67% and a return on equity of 9.12%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PFC. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Premier Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

About Premier Financial

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.