Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating restated by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $23.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $25.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.46% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Hovde Group upgraded Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st.

Premier Financial Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Premier Financial stock opened at $19.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $707.13 million, a P/E ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.42. Premier Financial has a 1-year low of $13.60 and a 1-year high of $24.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $108.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.93 million. Premier Financial had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 23.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Premier Financial will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier Financial

In other Premier Financial news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total value of $30,105.00. Following 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Premier Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Premier Financial by 766.2% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the third quarter worth $43,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Premier Financial by 480.0% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 4,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

About Premier Financial

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.