Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) Releases Earnings Results

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 25.39%.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE PB traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 885,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,101. The business's 50 day moving average is $78.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.90. Prosperity Bancshares has a 12-month low of $57.16 and a 12-month high of $86.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.93.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Prosperity Bancshares's payout ratio is 49.26%.

Insider Transactions at Prosperity Bancshares

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $40,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,815 shares in the company, valued at $9,269,093.60. This trade represents a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman H E. Timanus, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total value of $346,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 229,953 shares in the company, valued at $19,890,934.50. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,600 shares of company stock worth $1,196,144. 4.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PB. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Prosperity Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.38.

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.