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

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $23.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $25.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on PFC. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Hovde Group raised shares of Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Premier Financial Price Performance

Shares of PFC stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $20.14. 11,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 135,027. Premier Financial has a fifty-two week low of $13.60 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.40. The company has a market cap of $721.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.27. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Premier Financial had a net margin of 23.67% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $108.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Premier Financial will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier Financial news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 31,311 shares in the company, valued at $628,411.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Premier Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Premier Financial by 766.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new position in Premier Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Premier Financial during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Premier Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC bought a new position in Premier Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $115,000. 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.