Corton Capital Inc. Takes Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Key Points

• Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Preferred Bank, purchasing 2,842 shares valued at approximately $238,000 in the 1st quarter.
• A significant number of institutional investors, including Kennedy Capital Management and Deutsche Bank AG, have increased their holdings in Preferred Bank by substantial percentages in recent months.
• Preferred Bank reported a quarterly EPS of $2.52, exceeding analysts' estimates, along with a 3.19% dividend yield and a recently approved $125 million stock repurchase program.

Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,842 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFBC. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Preferred Bank by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 199,628 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,244,000 after purchasing an additional 61,655 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 10,237 shares of the bank's stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 4,875 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $916,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 14,387 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFBC. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.3%

PFBC stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $91.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,213. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $87.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Preferred Bank has a 12 month low of $71.90 and a 12 month high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.09. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.04%. The firm had revenue of $69.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.96 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is 31.71%.

Preferred Bank announced that its board has initiated 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 generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Preferred Bank

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.