American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 45,946 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 45,946 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.34% of Preferred Bank worth $30,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFBC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 1,224.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 350.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,316 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $128,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the second quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 12.5% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 2,831 shares of the bank’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFBC. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $121.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Brean Capital cut shares of Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Stephens restated a “positive” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Preferred Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of Preferred Bank stock opened at $88.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Preferred Bank has a 12 month low of $71.90 and a 12 month high of $103.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $91.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.71.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $78.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.54 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 26.41%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were issued a $3.20 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 336.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is presently 30.83%.

Preferred Bank Profile

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.

The bank’s core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.