Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $108.62, but opened at $103.81. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $106.40, with a volume of 57,180 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFBC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark upgraded Preferred Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Preferred Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Preferred Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.00.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 1.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $104.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.39. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.57.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.04. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.54% and a return on equity of 17.27%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10.76 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th were 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 of this dividend was Monday, October 5th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 27,169 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the second quarter worth about $12,352,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 77,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,434 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 56,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,090,000 after buying an additional 4,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 23.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 36,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

About Preferred Bank

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1991, the bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals, with a particular focus on commercial banking and relationship-based service.

The bank’s principal offerings include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and residential real estate loans, and consumer lending. Preferred Bank also provides deposit accounts, cash-management services, online banking and other treasury-management solutions for business and personal customers.

Preferred Bank operates a network of full-service branches in California and New York, serving customers in major metropolitan markets including the greater Los Angeles area, the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City.