Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 115,683 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 85.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,313 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 115,683 shares during the period. Preferred Bank accounts for 1.3% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.14% of Preferred Bank worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFBC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 24.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,935,000 after acquiring an additional 35,979 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 51.8% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 41,034 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,290,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,597 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,300,000 after buying an additional 12,283 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 62.5% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 31,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,546,000 after acquiring an additional 12,197 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,379 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $87.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.02. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $69.69 and a one year high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PFBC shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

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.