Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Acquired by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 70.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,206 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,556 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 181.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,770 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 92,335 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,841,000 after buying an additional 12,002 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the bank’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 2,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,642 shares of the bank’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. 74.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Preferred Bank from $60.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Preferred Bank Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PFBC opened at $62.09 on Friday. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $42.42 and a 1 year high of $77.75. The stock has a market cap of $895.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.30 and a 200-day moving average of $57.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The bank reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.14. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 36.65%. The company had revenue of $121.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 21st. Investors of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.30%.

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 in the United States. 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.