AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 18,338 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 554,525 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,338 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.58% of Prosperity Bancshares worth $41,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 349.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of PB stock opened at $70.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.17. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.16 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 44.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PB. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group reduced their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens increased their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James raised their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.23.

Insider Activity at Prosperity Bancshares

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $40,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 107,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,586,273.15. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $390,340. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.