Kennedy Capital Management LLC Purchases 33,157 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,157 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $18,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,131 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1,143.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 33,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after purchasing an additional 30,869 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,199,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 494,827 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,727,000 after acquiring an additional 16,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 20,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Preferred Bank stock opened at $101.61 on Friday. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $79.60 and a fifty-two week high of $103.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.41.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $69.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.76 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 17.52%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 7th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports 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. Brean Capital downgraded shares of Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Preferred Bank currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

About Preferred Bank

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.