Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a drop of 29.5% from the January 15th total of 1,900,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 538,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Price Performance

PPBI traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 500,952. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.63. Pacific Premier Bancorp has a 1 year low of $20.52 and a 1 year high of $30.28. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.26.

Pacific Premier Bancorp (NASDAQ:PPBI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. Pacific Premier Bancorp had a net margin of 17.54% and a return on equity of 5.43%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pacific Premier Bancorp will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. Pacific Premier Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Karr sold 10,290 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $276,492.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,474 shares in the company, valued at $2,135,466.38. This trade represents a 11.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Premier Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 234,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,903,000 after buying an additional 42,357 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 150,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,787,000 after buying an additional 8,145 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $784,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,187,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 203,652 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 84,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Company Profile

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Premier Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts deposit products, which includes checking, money market, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial real estate owner and non-owner-occupied, multifamily, construction and land, franchise real estate secured, and small business administration (SBA); revolving lines of credit, term loans, seasonal loans, and loans secured by liquid collateral; one-to-four family and home equity lines of credit loans; and small balance personal unsecured loans and savings account secured loans.