Quantbot Technologies LP Boosts Position in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP significantly increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 128.7% during the first quarter, now holding 12,094 shares valued at approximately $1,012,000.
• Preferred Bank's stock has seen a boost of 4.3%, currently priced at $94.77, with a recent earnings report indicating an EPS of $2.52, outperforming analyst expectations.
• The bank announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equating to a 3.2% yield, along with a recently approved share repurchase program authorized for up to $125 million.

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 128.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,094 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 6,806 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP owned about 0.08% of Preferred Bank worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position 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 period. CWM LLC increased its position 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 period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Preferred Bank during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $94.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,507. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Preferred Bank has a 12-month low of $71.90 and a 12-month high of $99.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.13.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $70.96 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.