Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Benchmark

by · The Cerbat Gem

Benchmark upgraded shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PFBC. Stephens raised their price objective on Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Friday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Preferred Bank

Preferred Bank Stock Up 2.6%

PFBC stock opened at $108.58 on Wednesday. Preferred Bank has a 1-year low of $81.50 and a 1-year high of $112.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.54.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.13. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.54% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The firm had revenue of $73.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.60 million. Equities analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 19th. Investors of record on Monday, October 5th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,831,000 after buying an additional 33,157 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 171,757 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,606,000 after acquiring an additional 27,169 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,352,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 10.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 77,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 7,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Preferred Bank by 9.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 56,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded in 1991, the bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals, with a particular focus on small and middle-market companies and the Chinese-American community.

The bank offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, small business lending, residential mortgage loans and consumer credit. Its deposit products include checking, savings, money market and time deposit accounts, along with treasury management, online banking and other cash-management services for business customers.

Preferred Bank serves customers through a network of branches and offices in California and the New York metropolitan area, including markets in Southern California, Northern California and communities in the New York region.

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