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

Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $103.10 and last traded at $102.84, with a volume of 60128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Brean Capital cut Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.65.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $69.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.76 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 17.52%. On average, research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Preferred Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 675.6% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 24,417 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 21,269 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew 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 worth $2,524,000 after acquiring an additional 10,998 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in Preferred Bank by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 50,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,778,000 after purchasing an additional 16,400 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Preferred Bank by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,534,000 after purchasing an additional 45,946 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 316.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 10,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 7,762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

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.