Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $83.85 and traded as high as $85.73. Preferred Bank shares last traded at $85.33, with a volume of 82,987 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens cut shares of Preferred Bank from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.85.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.20% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $132.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Preferred Bank’s payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Institutional Trading of Preferred Bank

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 1.7% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 13,970 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Preferred Bank by 0.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,228 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Preferred Bank by 6.7% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,137 shares of the bank’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 69.9% during the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.