JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 186,107 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,979 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $14,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 69.9% during 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. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 35.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 194.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens cut shares of Preferred Bank from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $81.42 on Friday. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $66.88 and a 1 year high of $99.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.90. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 26.20%. The firm had revenue of $132.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

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.