Analysts have been eager to weigh in on the Financial sector with new ratings on Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC), RLI Corp (NYSE:RLI) and Tristate Capital (NASDAQ:TSC).
Preferred Bank (PFBC)
B.Riley FBR analyst Steve Moss reiterated a Buy rating on Preferred Bank yesterday and set a price target of $80. The company’s shares opened today at $60.16.
Moss observed:
“PFBC reported generally solid 3Q18 results of $1.20 per share, in line with our estimate and three cents ahead of consensus. Results were driven by lower-than-expected expenses (+ $0.02), a lower-than-expected share count (+$0.02), and higher-than-expected fee income (+ $0.01), offset-by-lower than expected NII (-$0.03) and higher-than-expected credit costs (- $0.02). Overall results were generally positive with good core loan growth and deposit growth, though NII was weaker-than-expected due to higher funding costs, lower yields on cash and securities, and loan yield pressure. Expenses were also well controlled and partly offset lower- than-expected NII.”
According to TipRanks.com, Moss is a 3-star analyst with an average return of 2.9% and a 50.8% success rate. Moss covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Seacoast Banking Corporation Of Florida, The Bank of Princeton, and Meta Financial Group.
Preferred Bank has an analyst consensus of Strong Buy, with a price target consensus of $73.33, implying a 21.9% upside from current levels. In a report issued on October 4, Raymond James also upgraded the stock to Buy.
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RLI Corp (RLI)
B.Riley FBR analyst Randy Binner reiterated a Hold rating on RLI Corp yesterday and set a price target of $72. The company’s shares opened today at $71.94.
Binner said:
“RLI reported 3Q18 operating EPS of $0.46 versus B. Riley FBR/consensus of $0.52/$0.50. The miss to our model was largely the result of lower-than-expected reserve release in the casualty segment, which was $4.9M compared to our $7.7M estimate. Overall net premiums written were +7.0% Y/Y , compared to our +4.2% forecast, driven by solid growth across all segments. Favorable reserve development was lower than our forecast at $9.7M pretax versus our $13.2M estimate. The underlying combined ratio of 98.8% was elevated from our forecast of 97.4%. Net investment income outperformed at $16.3M compared to our $14.9M estimate.”
According to TipRanks.com, Binner is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 14.9% and a 68.8% success rate. Binner covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Health Insurance Innovations, Prudential Financial Inc, and Lincoln National Corp.
Currently, the analyst consensus on RLI Corp is a Hold with an average price target of $65.33.
Tristate Capital (TSC)
Boenning & Scattergood analyst Matthew Schultheis maintained a Hold rating on Tristate Capital today. The company’s shares opened today at $25.94.
According to TipRanks.com, Schultheis is a 3-star analyst with an average return of 4.7% and a 53.7% success rate. Schultheis covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Orrstown Financial Services Inc, Citizens Financial Services Inc, and Fulton Financial Corp.
Tristate Capital has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $31.75.
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