Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.41 Million in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,285 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Preferred Bank at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,129,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,548,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 530,029 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,806,000 after purchasing an additional 12,907 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 434,590 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,540,000 after purchasing an additional 18,868 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 360,025 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,105,000 after purchasing an additional 7,428 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 261,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,815,000 after purchasing an additional 27,760 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.9%

PFBC stock opened at $85.05 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.69. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $71.43 and a one year high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $65.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.78 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.85%.

About Preferred Bank

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.