Stephens Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $100.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Separately, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $90.38 on Thursday. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $66.88 and a fifty-two week high of $99.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.97.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. Equities analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is currently 31.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 24.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,935,000 after purchasing an additional 35,979 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 6,056 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Preferred Bank by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,597 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,300,000 after acquiring an additional 12,283 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Preferred Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 415,722 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,362,000 after acquiring an additional 7,086 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently 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.