Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Dividend Announcement
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyPreferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. 101,816 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the previous session’s volume of 103,600 shares.The stock last traded at $99.5580 and had previously closed at $98.39.
The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
PFBC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Preferred Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Brean Capital cut shares of Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.
View Our Latest Analysis on PFBC
Preferred Bank Price Performance
The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06.
Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.05. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The business had revenue of $69.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.76 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the first quarter valued at about $257,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 23.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 36,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.6% in the first quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 35.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 5,139 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after purchasing an additional 6,919 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.
Preferred Bank Company Profile
Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.
The bank’s core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.