Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,677 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 10,266 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $3,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 31.0% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 981 shares of the bank's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.92, for a total transaction of $39,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 107,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,616,574.80. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 5,000 shares of company stock worth $369,480 over the last three months. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock traded down $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $65.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 45,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,020. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.49. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.16 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. As a group, analysts expect that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Prosperity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PB shares. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.35.

About Prosperity Bancshares

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.