Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 32,954 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its ownership in Preferred Bank by 12.6%, selling 32,954 shares and holding 228,176 shares valued at approximately $19.19 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Preferred Bank recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.00 and a yield of 3.2%.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $103.67 for Preferred Bank, with ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Hold" based on recent upgrades from various analysts.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,176 shares of the bank's stock after selling 32,954 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 1.58% of Preferred Bank worth $19,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the first 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 last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 1.5% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 10,412 shares of the bank's stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,064 shares of the bank's stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 10.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the bank's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Preferred Bank during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFBC. DA Davidson raised their target price on Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.67.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PFBC traded down $0.41 during trading on Thursday, hitting $94.90. 17,604 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 96,507. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $91.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.13. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $71.90 and a 52 week high of $99.78. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $69.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.96 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Preferred Bank declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign 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.