Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Holdings in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 40,612.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,112 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,984 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $4,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,534,000 after purchasing an additional 45,946 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 105,283 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,517,000 after acquiring an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 288.4% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 74,636 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,746,000 after acquiring an additional 55,418 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 26.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 73,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,642,000 after acquiring an additional 15,193 shares during the period. Finally, Maltese Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.6% during the third quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 72,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Up 0.1%

Preferred Bank stock opened at $94.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $79.60 and a 52 week high of $103.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $92.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 0.56.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 EPS 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 company had revenue of $69.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.