Preferred Bank $PFBC Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Preferred Bank (PFBC) by 1.9% in Q3, selling 17,017 shares and now holds 869,631 shares (~6.03%) valued at about $78.6 million.
• Institutional ownership is high at 72.77%, and several funds moved positions—Denali Advisors opened a new ~$3.09M stake while the New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holding by 36.1%.
• Preferred Bank beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.79 vs. $2.78; revenue $78.07M vs. $74.54M), paid a $3.20 annual dividend (ex-div Jan 6), trades near $90 with a $1.30B market cap and 8.67 P/E, and carries a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" with an average $102 price target.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869,631 shares of the bank's stock after selling 17,017 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.03% of Preferred Bank worth $78,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PFBC. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,091,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 372,081 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,205,000 after acquiring an additional 4,896 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 13.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 291,858 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,259,000 after acquiring an additional 34,796 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 1.3% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 532,085 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,428,000 after acquiring an additional 6,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Preferred Bank by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 31,322 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Brean Capital cut shares of Preferred Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Preferred Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Preferred Bank from $121.00 to $111.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $89.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.62. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $91.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.72. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $71.90 and a 52 week high of $103.05.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $78.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.54 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 26.41%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 6th were given a dividend of $3.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a yield of 336.0%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is 30.83%.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank NASDAQ: PFBC is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.

The bank's core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.

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