Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $100.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PFBC. Zacks Research lowered shares of Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 26th. Stephens reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Preferred Bank from $121.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFBC opened at $90.77 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.83. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $71.90 and a fifty-two week high of $103.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $78.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.54 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were paid a $3.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 336.0%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,166,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 101,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 28,454 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth $1,008,000. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

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.