Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $92.32 and traded as high as $98.44. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $94.43, with a volume of 251,189 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PFBC shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.67.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 0.66.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The bank reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.27. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 25.67%.The company had revenue of $74.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be issued a $3.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 327.0%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 288.4% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 74,636 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,746,000 after buying an additional 55,418 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,534,000 after purchasing an additional 45,946 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the third quarter worth about $3,091,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 29,729 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 217.1% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 42,116 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,645,000 after purchasing an additional 28,835 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.