Squarepoint Ops LLC Grows Stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,261 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 5,098 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.15% of Preferred Bank worth $1,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,430 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 11,379 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 59.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,845 shares of the bank's stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,498 shares of the bank's stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Trading Up 1.4%

Preferred Bank stock traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.00. The company had a trading volume of 62,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,443. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.11. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $71.43 and a 1 year high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.10). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $65.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is 31.85%.

Preferred Bank declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $125.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are 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.