KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 19,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 981 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.25, for a total transaction of $37,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 109,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,263,578.75. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $416,135. Insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PB. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stephens upped their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America raised Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.50.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PB opened at $70.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.16 and a twelve month high of $86.76.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 26.79%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.85%.

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.