UBS Group AG Sells 24,983 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

UBS Group AG decreased its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,300 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,983 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $5,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,266 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 25,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 4,158 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after buying an additional 29,729 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 1,224.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 148.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 14,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 8,505 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Preferred Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Brean Capital lowered Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Preferred Bank in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Preferred Bank presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Trading Up 2.6%

NASDAQ:PFBC opened at $94.29 on Thursday. Preferred Bank has a 12 month low of $79.60 and a 12 month high of $103.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $92.16 and its 200 day moving average is $92.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.56.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.05. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business had revenue of $69.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.76 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

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.