Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 3,048 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,270 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,048 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.39% of Preferred Bank worth $4,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,430 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,201,000 after buying an additional 11,379 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,845 shares of the bank's stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 2,183 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,272 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,498 shares of the bank's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.94. 34,393 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 87,163. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.69. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $71.43 and a 52 week high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $81.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.50.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.78 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is presently 31.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on PFBC shares. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

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.