Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 40,435 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 475,025 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 40,435 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.29% of Preferred Bank worth $39,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,106 shares of the bank's stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 71,955 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,828 shares of the bank's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Preferred Bank by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,332 shares of the bank's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFBC traded up $3.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,069. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.05. Preferred Bank has a twelve month low of $71.90 and a twelve month high of $99.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.96 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $125.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on PFBC shares. DA Davidson increased 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 increased their target price on Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.