Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,628 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,646 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,628 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Preferred Bank worth $5,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Preferred Bank by 43.8% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,879 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 6,056 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,597 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,300,000 after purchasing an additional 12,283 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Preferred Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at about $294,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Preferred Bank by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 415,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 7,086 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 70.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PFBC opened at $86.38 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.96. Preferred Bank has a 12-month low of $66.88 and a 12-month high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 26.20%. The company had revenue of $132.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 30.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens downgraded Preferred Bank from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.