Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) Short Interest Up 24.6% in March

Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 428,900 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the February 29th total of 344,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 135,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier Financial

In other Premier Financial news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total value of $30,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,411.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier Financial by 6.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,148,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,456,000 after purchasing an additional 244,224 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Premier Financial by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,319,181 shares of the company's stock worth $70,341,000 after acquiring an additional 24,792 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Premier Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,973,151 shares of the company's stock worth $47,553,000 after acquiring an additional 42,193 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Premier Financial by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,425,847 shares of the company's stock worth $38,455,000 after acquiring an additional 234,891 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Premier Financial by 0.3% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,380,678 shares of the company's stock worth $41,876,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares during the period. 66.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Premier Financial from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Hovde Group raised shares of Premier Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.50 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Premier Financial in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Premier Financial from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th.

Premier Financial Stock Performance

PFC stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $20.12. The company had a trading volume of 186,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,984. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $720.30 million, a P/E ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.27. Premier Financial has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $24.87. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $20.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.10.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $64.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.15 million. Premier Financial had a net margin of 24.39% and a return on equity of 9.76%. Research analysts anticipate that Premier Financial will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Premier Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Premier Financial's payout ratio is 39.87%.

Premier Financial Company Profile

Premier Financial Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking services. It offers demand, checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposits and certificates of deposit account registry service; and investment products. The company also provides residential and commercial real estate, commercial, construction, home improvement and home equity, installment, and consumer loans.