D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Cuts Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 58.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,574 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,596 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

PFBC remained flat at $83.84 during trading on Friday. 90,642 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 87,516. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $81.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.20. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $71.43 and a 1 year high of $99.78. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 0.69.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. The business had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $125.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors 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 issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is 31.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PFBC. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered 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 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.