Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) gapped up before the market opened on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $83.33, but opened at $85.94. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $84.00, with a volume of 4,275 shares traded.

The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 20.24% and a net margin of 27.35%. The firm had revenue of $132.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 EPS.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PFBC. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Preferred Bank from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the third quarter worth about $54,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 848 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 96.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 35.1% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the first quarter worth $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.38 and its 200-day moving average is $78.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.95.

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.