Phocas Financial Corp. Lowers Stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Phocas Financial Corp. trimmed its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,996 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,318 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.94% of Preferred Bank worth $10,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PFBC. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 6.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,637 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 868,073 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,642,000 after acquiring an additional 10,931 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Preferred Bank by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 11,366 shares of the bank's stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 1st quarter worth about $296,000. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $92.36. 28,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 81,772. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business's 50-day moving average is $83.85 and its 200-day moving average is $80.12. Preferred Bank has a 12-month low of $61.24 and a 12-month high of $97.21.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.20% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company had revenue of $132.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PFBC shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Preferred Bank from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.