Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $93.02 and traded as high as $96.07. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $93.70, with a volume of 101,941 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Preferred Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Brean Capital cut Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.02.

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

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Preferred Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 494,827 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,727,000 after purchasing an additional 16,348 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 356,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,623,000 after purchasing an additional 18,309 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,534,000 after purchasing an additional 45,946 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,511,000 after purchasing an additional 33,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 19.9% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

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.