Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.15.

PINC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Premier in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PINC. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 451.8% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 53,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 43,860 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Premier by 61.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,240,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,679,000 after purchasing an additional 471,683 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Premier during the third quarter worth approximately $264,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in Premier during the third quarter worth approximately $630,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Premier by 13.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Premier stock opened at $20.96 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.25 and a 200-day moving average of $21.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.38. Premier has a 1-year low of $18.89 and a 1-year high of $33.58.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.55 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.43%.

About Premier

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.