Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $83.85 and traded as high as $85.73. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $85.33, with a volume of 82,987 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens cut Preferred Bank from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Preferred Bank Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 26.20%. The company had revenue of $132.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 680,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,357,000 after buying an additional 4,539 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 592,566 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Preferred Bank by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 415,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 7,086 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,597 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,300,000 after purchasing an additional 12,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,935,000 after purchasing an additional 35,979 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Preferred Bank

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.