Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI) Tops Q4 EPS by 22c; Approves New $150M Share Buyback Plan

Pacific Premier Bancorp (NASDAQ: PPBI) reported Q4 EPS of $0.71, $0.22 better than the analyst estimate of $0.49.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Summary

• Net income of $67.1 million, or $0.71 per diluted share
• Return on average assets of 1.34%, return on average equity of 9.91%, and return on average tangible common equity of 16.32%
• Net interest margin of 3.61% and core net interest margin of 3.32%
• Cost of deposits of 0.14% in the fourth quarter compared with 0.20% in the prior quarter
• Noninterest bearing deposits represent 37% of total deposits
• Nonperforming assets represent 0.15% of total assets
• Total loan delinquency of 0.10% compared with 0.22% in the prior quarter
• Increased common equity quarterly dividend by $0.02 to $0.30 per share
• Approved a new $150 million share repurchase program in January 2021

Steven R. Gardner, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, “We delivered a strong quarter to end 2020 that reflects our improved earnings power and overall operational strength. Despite the low interest rate environment and the uncertainty around the pandemic, we generated a return on average assets and average tangible common equity, exclusive of merger-related expenses, of 1.41% and 17.2%, respectively.

“Having completed the Opus integration in early October, we were able to increase our focus on business development throughout the remainder of the fourth quarter. As a result, we ended the year with a strong loan pipeline as our teams are attracting larger, more sophisticated clients. During the fourth quarter, our new loan commitments were up substantially from the prior quarter, although elevated payoffs and strategic loan sales reduced our loan balances at quarter end.

“Our strong earnings continue to enhance our capital levels, and we remain committed to a disciplined, prudent capital management strategy. We recently adopted a new stock repurchase program, increasing the size over the program previously adopted in late 2019. We also announced today that we increased our common stock dividend to $0.30 per share, from $0.28 per share in the prior quarter. Since initiating our dividend program two years ago, we have steadily increased the amount of capital we are returning to shareholders, which has positively influenced total shareholder returns.

“As we begin 2021, we are well-positioned to manage through the impact of the ongoing pandemic and capitalize on the economic recovery. We expect increasing levels of organic growth in our various markets, and we will continue to pursue strategic growth opportunities that can expand and enhance our franchise. Over the past several years we have made investments in talent and technology to create a robust, highly scalable platform to generate profitable growth, and we are confident in our ability to execute and deliver for our shareholders in the years ahead.”

Mr. Gardner concluded, “I want to thank all of the Pacific Premier team members for their strong commitment to our clients, our communities, and each other. Their incredible resiliency and talents are what drive our results.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI) click here.

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