Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Shares in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,285 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,407,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Preferred Bank at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the fourth quarter worth $117,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.75 during trading on Monday, hitting $82.86. The stock had a trading volume of 73,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,460. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.69. Preferred Bank has a 12 month low of $71.43 and a 12 month high of $99.78. The business's 50-day moving average is $81.77 and its 200 day moving average is $86.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $65.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors 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 3.62%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.85%.

Preferred Bank declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.