Royal Bank of Canada Has $8.86 Million Stock Holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,855 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $8,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 887.8% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 73.5% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 55.9% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 5,533.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. 71.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 20th. StockNews.com cut Preferred Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 2.8 %

PFBC opened at $62.24 on Friday. Preferred Bank has a 1-year low of $60.59 and a 1-year high of $78.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $936.71 million, a PE ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.32.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 18th. The bank reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.14. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 42.35% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $76.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.13 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 6th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 5th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. This is an increase from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is presently 25.23%.

About Preferred Bank

(Get Rating)

Preferred Bank operates as an independent commercial bank. It offers real estate financing for residential, commercial, industrial, and other income producing properties. Its business and consumer products include checking, savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts. The firm also offers treasury management services such as account reconciliation, remote deposit, cash and check courier services, merchant processing, and ACH credit origination.