Preferred Bank $PFBC Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

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 lessened its holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 228,176 shares of the bank's stock after selling 32,954 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 1.58% of Preferred Bank worth $19,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,828 shares of the bank's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 10,412 shares of the bank's stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,064 shares of the bank's stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the bank's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PFBC. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Preferred Bank has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.67.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.05. The company had a trading volume of 8,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,132. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $91.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.75. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $71.90 and a 1 year high of $99.78. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $69.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.96 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

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

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