Royce & Associates LP Increases Stake in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC)

Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 15.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,965 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,589 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Premier Financial were worth $4,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Premier Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Premier Financial in the second quarter worth about $84,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 296.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management grew its position in Premier Financial by 56.9% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. 66.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Premier Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFC opened at $27.82 on Tuesday. Premier Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $18.63 and a 52 week high of $29.15. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $997.07 million, a P/E ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Premier Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Premier Financial’s payout ratio is 62.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dennis E. Rose, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total transaction of $50,020.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,231.14. This represents a 4.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Premier Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

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.