Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Stephens decreased their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Peoples Financial Services stock opened at $44.51 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.82 and its 200 day moving average is $41.89. Peoples Financial Services has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $51.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $314.11 million, a P/E ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.51.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $41.92 million for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 5.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.618 per share. This is an increase from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $43,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,864.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,604 shares of company stock valued at $73,008. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,740,000 after buying an additional 9,122 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,915,000 after purchasing an additional 6,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.