Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.40 Million Investment in Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 48,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,397,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Pacific Premier Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $262,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $327,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 484,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,116,000 after acquiring an additional 219,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 18,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Barbara Polsky acquired 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.92 per share, with a total value of $28,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,007.44. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PPBI. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.60.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:PPBI traded down $0.14 on Monday, reaching $22.13. 637,313 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 528,125. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.77 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.06 and a 200-day moving average of $24.10. Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.53 and a 52-week high of $30.13.

Pacific Premier Bancorp (NASDAQ:PPBI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($17.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.50 million. Pacific Premier Bancorp had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 7.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.96%. Pacific Premier Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 440.00%.

Pacific Premier Bancorp 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.