Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.13, Zacks reports. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 26.49%.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $106.04 on Wednesday. Preferred Bank has a 12-month low of $81.50 and a 12-month high of $112.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.75. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.55.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preferred Bank

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFBC. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 288.4% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 74,636 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,746,000 after purchasing an additional 55,418 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,511,000 after acquiring an additional 33,124 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 572.5% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 38,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,659,000 after buying an additional 32,988 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 1,143.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 33,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after acquiring an additional 30,869 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 81.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after buying an additional 29,729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFBC has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

About Preferred Bank

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.