Why Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Could Be Worth Watching
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Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC), operating in the financial services industry based in United States, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NASDAQGS over the last few months, increasing to $52.08 at one point, and dropping to the lows of $42.35. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Preferred Bank's current trading price of $45.12 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Preferred Bank’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.
See our latest analysis for Preferred Bank
What is Preferred Bank worth?
According to my relative valuation model, the stock seems to be currently fairly priced. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 9.45x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 12.64x, which means if you buy Preferred Bank today, you’d be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Preferred Bank should be trading at this level in the long run, then there’s not much of an upside to gain from mispricing. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Preferred Bank’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
What does the future of Preferred Bank look like?
Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 10% in the upcoming year, the short-term outlook is positive for Preferred Bank. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? PFBC’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at PFBC? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below its fair value?
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on PFBC, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for PFBC, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on Preferred Bank. You can find everything you need to know about Preferred Bank in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Preferred Bank, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
