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

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 98,577 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 80,440 shares.The stock last traded at $81.64 and had previously closed at $81.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PFBC. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.93.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. Equities analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is presently 31.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 9,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Preferred Bank by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,064 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

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.