Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,646 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,628 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $5,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 69.9% during the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 96.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 35.1% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the 1st quarter valued at about $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $93.08 on Thursday. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $61.24 and a 1 year high of $97.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.22.

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

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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