Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $964,000 in Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 38,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $964,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPBI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp by 158.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 729.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,655 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Pacific Premier Bancorp by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pacific Premier Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pacific Premier Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PPBI shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. DA Davidson cut shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Premier Bancorp

In other news, COO Edward Earl Wilcox sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $294,060.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 140,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,844,939.24. This represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Pacific Premier Bancorp stock opened at $22.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.06 and a 12-month high of $30.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.01.

Pacific Premier Bancorp (NASDAQ:PPBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.07. Pacific Premier Bancorp had a net margin of 17.54% and a return on equity of 5.43%. The business had revenue of $144.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts predict that Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. Pacific Premier Bancorp’s payout ratio is 86.84%.

Pacific Premier Bancorp Profile

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Premier Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts deposit products, which includes checking, money market, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial real estate owner and non-owner-occupied, multifamily, construction and land, franchise real estate secured, and small business administration (SBA); revolving lines of credit, term loans, seasonal loans, and loans secured by liquid collateral; one-to-four family and home equity lines of credit loans; and small balance personal unsecured loans and savings account secured loans.