Stephens Reiterates Overweight Rating for Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Rating) in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $81.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PFBC. StockNews.com cut Preferred Bank from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Preferred Bank from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 20th.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

PFBC stock opened at $59.36 on Monday. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $54.40 and a one year high of $78.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $893.37 million, a PE ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 18th. The bank reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.14. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 42.35% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $76.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.13 million. On average, analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 10 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 6th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 5th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is currently 25.23%.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Preferred Bank by 887.8% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 55.9% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in Preferred Bank by 5,533.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. 71.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Preferred Bank

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Preferred Bank operates as an independent commercial bank. It offers real estate financing for residential, commercial, industrial, and other income producing properties. Its business and consumer products include checking, savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts. The firm also offers treasury management services such as account reconciliation, remote deposit, cash and check courier services, merchant processing, and ACH credit origination.