Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) Holdings Lifted by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 2,017.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 751,923 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 716,406 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 2.10% of Premier Financial worth $17,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Premier Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,983,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,269,000 after acquiring an additional 10,557 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Premier Financial by 153.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 14,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 8,656 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Premier Financial by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management increased its stake in Premier Financial by 56.9% in the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Premier Financial by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 22,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 2,547 shares during the period. 66.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dennis E. Rose, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $55,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,011,309.12. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Premier Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.50.

Premier Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Premier Financial stock opened at $27.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Premier Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $18.63 and a 1 year high of $29.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.27. The company has a market cap of $999.22 million, a P/E ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.25.

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $112.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.55 million. Premier Financial had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 16.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Premier Financial Corp. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.94%.

Premier Financial 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.