Phocas Financial Corp. Cuts Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 85.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,313 shares of the bank's stock after selling 115,683 shares during the period. Preferred Bank comprises approximately 1.3% of Phocas Financial Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.14% of Preferred Bank worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 592,566 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 415,722 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 7,086 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,597 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,300,000 after purchasing an additional 12,283 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 24.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,107 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,935,000 after purchasing an additional 35,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,530 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,092,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of PFBC traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.75. 81,026 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 79,062. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.97. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $69.69 and a fifty-two week high of $99.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.21.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. As a group, research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 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 paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

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.