BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Makes New $12.09 Million Investment in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. $PB

Key Points

• BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. opened a new position in Prosperity Bancshares during the fourth quarter, buying 174,867 shares valued at about $12.09 million.
• Prosperity Bancshares reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $1.50 versus estimates of $1.41 and revenue of $367.62 million, up 19.9% from a year earlier.
• The bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, implying a 3.6% annualized yield, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $76.82.

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 174,867 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $12,085,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned 0.18% of Prosperity Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,256,927 shares of the bank's stock worth $708,856,000 after purchasing an additional 140,035 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,580,039 shares of the bank's stock worth $373,231,000 after purchasing an additional 343,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,784,022 shares of the bank's stock worth $317,416,000 after purchasing an additional 28,994 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 43.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,421,408 shares of the bank's stock worth $226,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 48.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,122,031 shares of the bank's stock worth $140,797,000 after purchasing an additional 695,114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.32, for a total transaction of $34,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 76,615 shares in the company, valued at $5,310,951.80. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,300 shares of company stock worth $975,055. Corporate insiders own 3.96% of the company's stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 2.3%

PB stock opened at $67.36 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $68.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.06 and a 52-week high of $77.20. The firm has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 7.20%. The business had revenue of $367.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Prosperity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $91.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Prosperity Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.82.

Prosperity Bancshares Company Profile

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc is a holding company for Prosperity Bank, offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company provides deposit products, business and real estate lending, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, as well as wealth management and trust services.

Originally chartered in 1911 as First National Bank in McKinney, Texas, the organization rebranded to Prosperity Bank in 2009 following a series of strategic acquisitions aimed at deepening its regional presence.

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