Short Interest in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Declines By 19.1%

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the March 15th total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 583,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PB shares. UBS Group decreased 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America raised Prosperity Bancshares from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Prosperity Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.35.

Insider Activity

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.92, for a total transaction of $39,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 107,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,616,574.80. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,000 shares of company stock worth $362,910. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position 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 last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 349.5% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 917 shares of the bank's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PB traded down $0.45 on Thursday, reaching $66.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,290. The stock's 50-day moving average is $70.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.33. Prosperity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $57.16 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $306.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $307.17 million. Equities analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Prosperity Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 45.85%.

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.