Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Sells 59,814 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 33.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,621 shares of the bank's stock after selling 59,814 shares during the period. Preferred Bank makes up about 1.8% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned 0.82% of Preferred Bank worth $9,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 121.0% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 171,330 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,934,000 after buying an additional 93,815 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the first quarter worth approximately $3,449,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 24.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,745 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,869,000 after purchasing an additional 15,391 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 62.5% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 31,726 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 12,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Preferred Bank by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 868,073 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,642,000 after purchasing an additional 10,931 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.67. The company had a trading volume of 63,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,411. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $83.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.00. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $61.24 and a 52 week high of $97.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is 28.06%.

About Preferred Bank

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.