Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $101.84 and last traded at $101.3950, with a volume of 9970 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $100.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on PFBC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Preferred Bank from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Preferred Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.67.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The bank reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $74.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.74 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 25.67%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $3.20 per share. This represents a yield of 327.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFBC. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 27,921 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after acquiring an additional 10,998 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 163.2% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $663,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $275,000. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.