Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.25.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Preferred Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1,224.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1,992.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Preferred Bank in the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Preferred Bank during the third quarter worth $70,000. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PFBC opened at $102.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 0.54. Preferred Bank has a twelve month low of $81.50 and a twelve month high of $112.26.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.13. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.54% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The firm had revenue of $73.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.60 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 29.25%.

About Preferred Bank

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.