Preferred Bank (PFBC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. In addition to term and construction loans, Preferred Bank provides lines of credit, equipment financing, and residential mortgage products. On the deposit side, the company offers checking and savings accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit, alongside online banking and payment services to support its commercial clients.

Founded in 2005, Preferred Bank has pursued steady growth by catering to the financing needs of real estate investors, small-to-medium enterprises and professional service firms. Over time, the bank has expanded its geographic footprint beyond its Los Angeles base to loan production offices in Chicago and New York, enabling it to underwrite transactions in key U.S. real estate markets.

Leadership at Preferred Bank is anchored by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Raymond P. Sze, who has guided the company since its inception. The bank emphasizes relationship-driven service, local credit decision-making and personalized support, positioning itself as a regional lender with the resources and expertise to serve a diversified client base.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $84.58 to $85.60
• 50-Day Range: $84.57 to $95.76
• 52-Week Range: $71.90 to $99.78
• Volume: 116,932 shs
• Average Volume: 71,059 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.23 billion
• P/E Ratio: 9.02
• Dividend Yield: 3.52%
• Price Target: $103.67
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Preferred Bank Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Preferred Bank scored higher than 72% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 471st out of 929 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.6 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Preferred Bank has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.50, and is based on 2 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Preferred Bank has a consensus price target of $103.67, representing about 21.5% upside from its current price of $85.31.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Preferred Bank has only been the subject of 3 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 3.98%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Preferred Bank are expected to grow by 3.98% in the coming year, from $9.81 to $10.20 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Preferred Bank is 9.02, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 219.45.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Preferred Bank is 9.02, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 28.57.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Preferred Bank has a P/B Ratio of 1.61. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

7.01% of the float of Preferred Bank has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Preferred Bank has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 11.6, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Preferred Bank has recently decreased by 3.06%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Preferred Bank is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.52%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Preferred Bank has been increasing its dividend for 5 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Preferred Bank is 31.71%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Preferred Bank will have a dividend payout ratio of 29.41% next year. This indicates that Preferred Bank will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

7.01% of the float of Preferred Bank has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Preferred Bank has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 11.6, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Preferred Bank has recently decreased by 3.06%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.3 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.17

News Sentiment

Preferred Bank has a news sentiment score of 0.17. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.65 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 5 news articles for Preferred Bank this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

MarketBeat Follows

1 people have added Preferred Bank to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Preferred Bank insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Institutions

72.77% of the stock of Preferred Bank is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

PFBC Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have PFBC shares performed this year?

Preferred Bank's stock was trading at $86.38 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, PFBC stock has decreased by 1.2% and is now trading at $85.31.

How were Preferred Bank's earnings last quarter?

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July, 21st. The bank reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.09. The bank earned $69.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.96 million. Preferred Bank had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.04%.
Read the conference call transcript.

Is Preferred Bank doing a stock buyback?

Preferred Bank's board initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd 2025, which allows the company to buy back $125,000,000 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could reacquire up to 10.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Who are Preferred Bank's major shareholders?

Preferred Bank's top institutional investors include Wedge Capital Management L L P NC (0.07%), CWM LLC (0.07%), Yousif Capital Management LLC (0.02%) and Voya Investment Management LLC (0.02%).

How do I buy shares of Preferred Bank?

Shares of PFBC stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Preferred Bank own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Preferred Bank investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Netflix (NFLX), Broadcom (AVGO), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 7/22 Dividend: 7/08/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 7/22 Dividend: 7/08/2025
• Last Earnings: 7/21/2025
• Dividend Payable: 7/22/2025
• Record date for 10/21 Dividend: 10/07/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 10/21 Dividend: 10/07/2025
• Today: 10/19/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/20/2025
• Dividend Payable: 10/21/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: BANKS - WEST
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:PFBC
• CIK: 1492165
• Web: www.preferredbank.com
• Phone: (213) 891-1188
• Fax: 213-622-5161
• Employees: 280
• Year Founded: 1991

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Preferred Bank: $103.67
• High Price Target: $112.00
• Low Price Target: $91.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +21.5%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.50
• Research Coverage: 4 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $9.46
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 9.02
• Forward P/E Ratio: 8.70
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $130.66 million
• Net Margins: 25.04%
• Pretax Margin: 35.39%
• Return on Equity: 16.64%
• Return on Assets: 1.80%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.47
• Current Ratio: 1.07
• Quick Ratio: 1.07

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $522.66 million
• Price / Sales: 2.36
• Cash Flow: $9.42 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 9.06
• Book Value: $52.89 per share
• Price / Book: 1.61

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 14,430,000
• Free Float: N/A
• Market Cap: $1.23 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.71