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

Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 83,987 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 104,353 shares.The stock last traded at $94.8650 and had previously closed at $95.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFBC shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens restated a “positive” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Monday, January 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Brean Capital cut Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $91.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.51.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $69.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.76 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 26.49%. On average, analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 7th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFBC. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 55,418 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 51,984 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,534,000 after buying an additional 45,946 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Preferred Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in Preferred Bank by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,831,000 after purchasing an additional 33,157 shares in the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Preferred Bank

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.