Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Benchmark

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

PFBC has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens increased their price objective on Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Friday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Preferred Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Preferred Bank Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:PFBC opened at $108.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $104.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.20. Preferred Bank has a 12-month low of $81.50 and a 12-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.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFBC. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,831,000 after acquiring an additional 33,157 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Preferred Bank by 18.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 171,757 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,606,000 after purchasing an additional 27,169 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Preferred Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,352,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 77,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 7,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 56,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded in 1991, the bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals, with a particular focus on small and middle-market companies and the Chinese-American community.

The bank offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, small business lending, residential mortgage loans and consumer credit. Its deposit products include checking, savings, money market and time deposit accounts, along with treasury management, online banking and other cash-management services for business customers.

Preferred Bank serves customers through a network of branches and offices in California and the New York metropolitan area, including markets in Southern California, Northern California and communities in the New York region.