Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 10,171 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 223.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,729 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,171 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank in the third quarter worth about $76,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the 4th 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. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 194.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Preferred Bank stock opened at $91.48 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.28. Preferred Bank has a 52-week low of $66.88 and a 52-week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target 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.