Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $865,000 Stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,335 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 9,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,064 shares of the bank’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Preferred Bank stock opened at $84.47 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.70. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $71.90 and a fifty-two week high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

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

Preferred Bank announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PFBC. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

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.