KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 19,400 Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

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

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PB. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 45,392 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.50.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PB opened at $70.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.11. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.16 and a 12 month high of $86.76.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $37,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 109,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,102,427.80. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $416,135. Insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

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.