Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $100.00 and last traded at $100.30, with a volume of 16831 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.83.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be paid a $3.20 dividend. This represents a yield of 327.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 6th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Preferred Bank from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Preferred Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.67.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $91.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.87. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.74.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The bank reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $74.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.74 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 16.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 65.0% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 27,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 10,998 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 163.2% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Preferred Bank during the third quarter valued at about $663,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank during the third quarter worth about $275,000. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Preferred Bank

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.