Meritage Portfolio Management Buys Shares of 4,558 Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,558 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Preferred Bank during the third quarter worth $54,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $294,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFBC shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Preferred Bank Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $96.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.94. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $60.20 and a fifty-two week high of $97.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.38.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 26.20%. The business had revenue of $132.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

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.