Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) Stock Price Up 7.9% After Dividend Announcement

Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC)’s share price traded up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $27.10 and last traded at $27.25. 28,819 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 183,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.24.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Premier Financial’s payout ratio is 62.31%.

Premier Financial Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $986.50 million, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.07.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $112.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.55 million. Premier Financial had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dennis E. Rose, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $55,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,011,309.12. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Premier Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Premier Financial by 2,017.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 751,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,655,000 after purchasing an additional 716,406 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Premier Financial by 66.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 326,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,684,000 after acquiring an additional 129,913 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Premier Financial by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 383,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,809,000 after buying an additional 94,000 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 538.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 68,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 57,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Premier Financial by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 653,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,334,000 after purchasing an additional 49,367 shares in the last quarter. 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.