Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average of $76.05

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $76.05 and traded as high as $83.80. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $81.62, with a volume of 60,562 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFBC. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.05.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $130.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.55 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 20.24%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 27.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFBC. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 121.0% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 171,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,934,000 after purchasing an additional 93,815 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the first quarter worth approximately $3,449,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 24.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,745 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,869,000 after acquiring an additional 15,391 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth $942,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Preferred Bank by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 868,073 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,642,000 after acquiring an additional 10,931 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 in the United States. 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.