Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $105.99 and last traded at $105.12, with a volume of 269325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Up 1.5%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $69.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.76 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 26.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 10.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Preferred Bank

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 494,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,727,000 after buying an additional 16,348 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 356,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,623,000 after buying an additional 18,309 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,534,000 after acquiring an additional 45,946 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,511,000 after acquiring an additional 33,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,831,000 after acquiring an additional 33,157 shares in the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.

The bank’s core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.