Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . Approximately 107,120 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 3% from the previous session’s volume of 110,071 shares.The stock last traded at $106.2020 and had previously closed at $107.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PFBC shares. Weiss Ratings raised Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.16.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.05. The company 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%. Analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFBC. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 14,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 25,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 2.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,266 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the bank’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 3,954 shares of the bank’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

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.