Piper Sandler Raises Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) Price Target to $22.00

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $21.00 to $22.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 7.95% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Premier Financial from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

Premier Financial Price Performance

Shares of PFC opened at $20.38 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.40. Premier Financial has a fifty-two week low of $13.60 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $729.60 million, a PE ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Premier Financial will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Premier Financial

In related news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 31,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,411.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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. boosted its holdings in Premier Financial by 13.9% in the third 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 during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in Premier Financial by 153.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 251.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 113,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 81,457 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Premier Financial during the third quarter valued at about $1,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

About Premier Financial

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.