Preferred Bank $PFBC Shares Sold by Deutsche Bank AG

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG has reduced its stake in Preferred Bank by 74.6%, owning 9,248 shares after selling 27,118 during the first quarter.
• Preferred Bank reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.43, though revenue was slightly below estimates.
• Preferred Bank has announced a $125 million share buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

Deutsche Bank AG lessened its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 74.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,248 shares of the bank's stock after selling 27,118 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.06% of Preferred Bank worth $774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFBC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 475,025 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,741,000 after buying an additional 40,435 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 9,482.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 28.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 337.3% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 34,113 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 26,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,699 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,170,000 after purchasing an additional 16,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PFBC traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.40. The stock had a trading volume of 49,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,355. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $91.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.11. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.09. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.04%.The business had revenue of $69.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.96 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.67.

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.