Phocas Financial Corp. Trims Holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 5.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 135,996 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,318 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $10,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 69.9% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 848 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 96.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $118,000. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFBC. Stephens increased 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 lifted their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.4 %

PFBC opened at $93.27 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 0.94. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $61.24 and a 52 week high of $97.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.01.

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

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.06%.

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.