Royal Bank of Canada Decreases Stake in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its Preferred Bank stake by 73.4% in the first quarter, selling 24,621 shares and retaining 8,918 shares worth approximately $809,000. Institutional investors collectively own 72.77% of PFBC.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: PFBC has an overall consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25, despite recent target increases from Piper Sandler and Stephens.
• Preferred Bank reported quarterly EPS of $2.78, beating estimates of $2.65, while revenue reached $73.47 million. The bank also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.80, equivalent to a 3.1% annualized yield.

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 73.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,918 shares of the bank's stock after selling 24,621 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.06% of Preferred Bank worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 494,827 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,727,000 after buying an additional 16,348 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 356,065 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,623,000 after buying an additional 18,309 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,511,000 after acquiring an additional 33,124 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,831,000 after acquiring an additional 33,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 171,757 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,606,000 after acquiring an additional 27,169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PFBC. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Preferred Bank from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of PFBC opened at $104.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Preferred Bank has a 1-year low of $81.50 and a 1-year high of $112.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.74.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.13. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 26.54%.The company had revenue of $73.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.60 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.25%.

About Preferred Bank

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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