Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Hold Rating at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their hold rating on shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $21.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $27.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PINC. Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Premier Stock Up 1.0 %

PINC opened at $19.61 on Wednesday. Premier has a 1-year low of $18.65 and a 1-year high of $28.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.39.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $338.55 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. As a group, research analysts expect that Premier will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Premier by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Premier by 141.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Premier by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 246.5% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Premier Company Profile

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.