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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $45.05 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.25 and a 200-day moving average of $42.53. The company has a market capitalization of $317.92 million, a PE ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Peoples Financial Services has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $51.00.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $41.92 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $43,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $682,864.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 1,604 shares of company stock valued at $73,008 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,915,000 after acquiring an additional 6,776 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,740,000 after buying an additional 9,122 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after buying an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. 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.