Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Sees Strong Trading Volume - What's Next?

Key Points

• Preferred Bank shares slipped 1.3% to about $105.09, while midday trading volume fell 41% from the prior session.
• Analysts raised their price targets to between $110 and $111, but the overall consensus remains “Hold” with a $106.25 target.
• The bank exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $2.78 versus $2.65 forecast, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.80, equivalent to a 3.1% yield.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 65,003 shares traded hands during mid-day 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Preferred Bank from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $103.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.54.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $73.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.60 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 26.54%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 Trading of Preferred Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFBC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,352,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Preferred Bank by 288.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 74,636 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,746,000 after purchasing an additional 55,418 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Preferred Bank by 40,612.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 52,112 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,896,000 after purchasing an additional 51,984 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 33,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,511,000 after buying an additional 33,124 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. 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.

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