Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 385 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 217.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 562 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $49,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 0.7% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 60,866 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $81.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Preferred Bank has a 52-week low of $70.22 and a 52-week high of $99.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.61 and its 200 day moving average is $86.60.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

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.