Ruffer LLP Takes Position in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. $PB

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP bought a new stake of 42,828 shares (about $2.96M) in Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) during Q4, per its 13F filing.
• Other institutions also increased positions (e.g., American Century now owns 2.12M shares) and institutional investors hold 80.69% of the company, while insiders have sold recently and now own 3.96%.
• Analysts are mixed with a consensus “Hold” and $78.31 price target; PB reported $1.46 EPS (beat by $0.01) but revenue was down 5.9% YoY, and the stock trades near $69.55 with a P/E of 12.14 and market cap of about $7.06B.

Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 42,828 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,964,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,122,031 shares of the bank's stock valued at $140,797,000 after buying an additional 695,114 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 231.1% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 53,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,575,000 after buying an additional 37,602 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 159,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,607,000 after buying an additional 48,943 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 634.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,371 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 14,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,488,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.67, for a total value of $40,002.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,806,807. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,100 shares of company stock valued at $834,609. 3.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $77.00 to $74.00 in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.31.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PB opened at $69.55 on Wednesday. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.06 and a fifty-two week high of $77.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.87. The firm has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.66.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 31.22%.The business had revenue of $317.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Prosperity Bancshares's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

About Prosperity Bancshares

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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