VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes Position in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems ET Al has acquired a new stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC), purchasing 16,613 shares valued at approximately $1.4 million in the 2nd quarter.
• Preferred Bank reported $2.84 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' consensus estimates by $0.27, with a net margin of 25.67%.
• The bank announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 30.49%.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 16,613 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,438,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.12% of Preferred Bank as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PFBC. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,828 shares of the bank's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,106 shares of the bank's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,842 shares of the bank's stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,537 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Up 2.2%

PFBC stock opened at $92.99 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $91.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Preferred Bank has a 12 month low of $71.90 and a 12 month high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The bank reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.27. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The firm had revenue of $74.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PFBC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.67.

Preferred Bank 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.

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