Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 38,012 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,936 shares of the bank's stock after selling 38,012 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.10% of Prosperity Bancshares worth $7,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 349.5% in 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the bank's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.12, for a total transaction of $36,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 103,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,487,137.80. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,800 shares of company stock valued at $542,975. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.80.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

NYSE PB traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $69.96. 482,923 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 592,593. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.88. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.16 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.68.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 26.79%. The business had revenue of $306.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Prosperity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.19%.

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.