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

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Hovde Group raised shares of Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Premier Financial from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

Premier Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PFC opened at $20.38 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.40. Premier Financial has a 12 month low of $13.60 and a 12 month high of $24.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $729.60 million, a P/E ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Premier Financial will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity 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 transaction 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 $628,411.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Premier Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Premier Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,254,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,342,000 after buying an additional 17,231 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Premier Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,930,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,942,000 after purchasing an additional 14,655 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Premier Financial by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,065,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,669,000 after purchasing an additional 48,257 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Premier Financial by 333.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 268,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 206,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 206,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,982,000 after acquiring an additional 25,800 shares during the last quarter. 66.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.