Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Boosts Stock Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 23.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,332 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 12.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,106 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 71,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,842 shares of the bank’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 1.9%

NASDAQ PFBC opened at $89.07 on Friday. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $71.90 and a 1 year high of $99.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.86 and its 200 day moving average is $85.69.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $69.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.96 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.04%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is 31.71%.

Preferred Bank declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PFBC shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd.

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.