Virtu Financial LLC Takes $1.17 Million Position in Preferred Bank $PFBC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,345 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,166,000. Virtu Financial LLC owned 0.09% of Preferred Bank at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFBC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 494,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,727,000 after purchasing an additional 16,348 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 356,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,623,000 after buying an additional 18,309 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,534,000 after buying an additional 45,946 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,511,000 after buying an additional 33,124 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,831,000 after buying an additional 33,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PFBC shares. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Brean Capital downgraded shares of Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $99.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.58. Preferred Bank has a 52-week low of $80.10 and a 52-week high of $103.05.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.05. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business had revenue of $69.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 7th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.

The bank’s core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.