Meritage Portfolio Management Grows Holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 223.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,729 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 10,171 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management owned 0.10% of Preferred Bank worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFBC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,976 shares of the bank's stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the period. SkyOak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $281,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,498 shares of the bank's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded down $2.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.00. The stock had a trading volume of 113,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 77,617. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.97. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $67.44 and a 1 year high of $99.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.41.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Preferred Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is currently 31.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PFBC. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

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.