Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . Approximately 65,003 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 109,784 shares.The stock last traded at $105.0940 and had previously closed at $105.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PFBC. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.54.

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

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th were issued 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 payout ratio is currently 29.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 1.1% during the 4th 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 period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,266 shares of the bank’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 25,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,380,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 3,954 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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. 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.