Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.25.

PFBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $104.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.56. Preferred Bank has a twelve month low of $81.50 and a twelve month high of $112.26. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $104.94 and a 200 day moving average of $96.92.

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

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 14,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Preferred Bank by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 25,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 2.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,266 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Preferred Bank in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other 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.