Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by acquiring 8,074 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 890,350 shares worth $74.5 million.
• Preferred Bank reported a quarterly EPS of $2.52, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.43, though its revenue slightly fell short of estimates at $69.05 million.
• The bank's Board of Directors announced a stock repurchase plan to buy back up to $125 million in shares, highlighting management's confidence in its stock value.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 890,350 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 8,074 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.17% of Preferred Bank worth $74,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the first quarter worth $55,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth $117,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Finally, 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 valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 49,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,733. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 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 50-day simple moving average of $91.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.18.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.09. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.04%.The business had revenue of $69.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.96 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.67.

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.