Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 98,577 shares were traded during mid-day 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. This is an increase from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 31.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Preferred Bank by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 8,183 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 5.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,367 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,721,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1,376.8% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,137 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the third quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 60,866 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

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.