ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Buys New Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Preferred Bank by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of PFBC opened at $76.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.66. Preferred Bank has a twelve month low of $70.99 and a twelve month high of $99.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. Research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PFBC. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson upped their price target on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

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.