Deutsche Bank AG Raises Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 405.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,366 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 29,176 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.25% of Preferred Bank worth $3,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 70.9% during 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 during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,845 shares of the bank's stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,272 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Preferred Bank by 12.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted 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 buying an additional 289 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price target 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. Piper Sandler lowered 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, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PFBC traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $83.08. 87,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 87,447. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $71.43 and a 1 year high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $65.96 million during 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.85%.

Preferred Bank declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership 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.