WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases 28,835 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 217.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,116 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,835 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned 0.29% of Preferred Bank worth $3,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFBC. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the 1st quarter valued at $33,915,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 28.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,062 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,506,000 after purchasing an additional 57,434 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 9.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 475,025 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,741,000 after purchasing an additional 40,435 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 81.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 29,729 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 617.3% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 24,387 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,111,000 after purchasing an additional 20,987 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PFBC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Preferred Bank from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Preferred Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.67.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFBC opened at $94.73 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 0.74. Preferred Bank has a 1-year low of $71.90 and a 1-year high of $99.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The bank reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $74.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.74 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 16.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.49%.

Preferred Bank 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.