Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys New Shares in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired 8,770 shares of Preferred Bank, valued at approximately $734,000, increasing its ownership to about 0.06%.
• Preferred Bank's Board of Directors has initiated a $125 million stock buyback program, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.
• Recent earnings results show Preferred Bank reported $2.52 earnings per share, slightly surpassing analyst expectations, while a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share reflects a 3.2% yield.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,770 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $734,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Preferred Bank at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFBC. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 1st quarter worth about $33,915,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,062 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,506,000 after purchasing an additional 57,434 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 475,025 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,741,000 after purchasing an additional 40,435 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 9,482.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,894 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 36,509 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 147,702 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:PFBC traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $93.21. The stock had a trading volume of 91,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,964. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $71.90 and a one year high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $93.05 and its 200-day moving average is $86.55.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.09. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $69.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.96 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $125.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.67.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.