Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $964,000 in Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 38,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $964,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 158.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 1,853 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 729.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,655 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pacific Premier Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $158,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pacific Premier Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PPBI opened at $22.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.01. Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.06 and a 52-week high of $30.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Pacific Premier Bancorp (NASDAQ:PPBI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. Pacific Premier Bancorp had a net margin of 17.54% and a return on equity of 5.43%. The business had revenue of $144.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.88%. Pacific Premier Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PPBI. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Edward Earl Wilcox sold 14,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $294,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 140,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,844,939.24. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.29% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Profile

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Premier Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts deposit products, which includes checking, money market, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial real estate owner and non-owner-occupied, multifamily, construction and land, franchise real estate secured, and small business administration (SBA); revolving lines of credit, term loans, seasonal loans, and loans secured by liquid collateral; one-to-four family and home equity lines of credit loans; and small balance personal unsecured loans and savings account secured loans.