Insider Selling: Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) EVP Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) EVP Dennis E. Rose, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 $953,231.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Premier Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Premier Financial stock opened at $24.92 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Premier Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $15.79 and a twelve month high of $26.40. The stock has a market cap of $892.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.28.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $110.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.20 million. Premier Financial had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 8.23%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 43,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 3,345 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $219,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 326,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,684,000 after buying an additional 129,913 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 17,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Premier Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.