Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) Given “Market Perform” Rating at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $23.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $25.00.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PFC. Hovde Group raised shares of Premier Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $22.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday.

Premier Financial Price Performance

Shares of PFC stock opened at $19.75 on Thursday. Premier Financial has a 12-month low of $13.60 and a 12-month high of $24.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $707.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.71 and a 200-day moving average of $20.44.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.93 million. Premier Financial had a net margin of 23.67% and a return on equity of 9.19%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Premier Financial will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Insider Activity at Premier Financial

In related news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total value of $30,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,411.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 333.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 268,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 206,258 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,016,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,347,000 after purchasing an additional 124,126 shares in the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 153.4% during the 4th quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 198,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,789,000 after purchasing an additional 120,299 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Premier Financial by 251.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 113,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 81,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Premier Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

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.