Royce & Associates LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its holdings in shares of Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 154,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,584 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Premier Financial were worth $3,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Premier Financial by 22.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Premier Financial by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 88,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 4,422 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Premier Financial by 133.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 27,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 15,604 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in Premier Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 191,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Premier Financial by 2,017.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 751,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,655,000 after purchasing an additional 716,406 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.14% of the company’s stock.

Premier Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFC opened at $28.04 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.26. Premier Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $18.63 and a 1-year high of $29.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Premier Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Premier Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.31%.

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.