Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Plans $0.75 Quarterly Dividend

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, June 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the bank on Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th.

Preferred Bank has a payout ratio of 30.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Preferred Bank to earn $10.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of PFBC stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $85.49. 85,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 88,287. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.90. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Preferred Bank has a 12-month low of $71.90 and a 12-month high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.10). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 24.87%. The firm had revenue of $65.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,266 shares of the bank's stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 19.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 25,931 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,169,000 after buying an additional 4,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 81.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,428 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 29,729 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.

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