Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Invests $209,000 in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,418 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFBC. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $674,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $843,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PFBC shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PFBC opened at $80.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.34. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $71.90 and a fifty-two week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.78 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is 31.85%.

Preferred Bank announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $125.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.