Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

by · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of PFIS stock opened at $45.05 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.25 and a 200-day moving average of $42.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Peoples Financial Services has a 12-month low of $36.26 and a 12-month high of $51.00. The firm has a market cap of $317.92 million, a P/E ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.51.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company had revenue of $41.92 million during the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.618 dividend. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.49%. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 75.77%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In other Peoples Financial Services news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of Peoples Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $43,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $682,864.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,604 shares of company stock worth $73,008. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Peoples Financial Services

(Get Free Report)

Peoples Financial Services Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company that provides various commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts.

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