GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 36,509 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 9,482.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,894 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,509 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Preferred Bank worth $3,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth about $1,246,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $1,407,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 21,261 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 5,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 468,759 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $84.47 on Thursday. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $71.90 and a 52 week high of $99.78. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.70.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.78 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is currently 31.85%.

Preferred Bank announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.