New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,819 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,819 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Premier Financial were worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Premier Financial by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Premier Financial by 766.2% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Premier Financial by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Premier Financial by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 78,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Premier Financial in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 66.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier Financial

In other Premier Financial news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of Premier Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total value of $30,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,411.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Premier Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Hovde Group upgraded Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Premier Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

PFC opened at $20.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.61. Premier Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $24.87. The company has a market capitalization of $749.15 million, a PE ratio of 6.82 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.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Premier Financial had a net margin of 23.67% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The business had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

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.