Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $108.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.93 million. Premier Financial had a net margin of 23.67% and a return on equity of 9.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share.

Premier Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Premier Financial stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $20.12. The company had a trading volume of 5,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,061. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.40. The firm has a market cap of $720.30 million, a PE ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.27. Premier Financial has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $24.87. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Donald P. Hileman sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,411.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PFC shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Premier Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Premier Financial in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Premier Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.50 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

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.