Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 31,518 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 44,205 shares.The stock last traded at $63.3370 and had previously closed at $63.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $624.81 million, a P/E ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.24.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.11). Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 21.29%.The company had revenue of $92.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.95 million.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.69%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,886,000 after buying an additional 17,655 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 73,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,595,000 after buying an additional 4,867 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 9.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 55,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,976,000 after buying an additional 4,917 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,182,000 after buying an additional 7,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 36,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 4,460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

Peoples Financial Services Corporation is the bank holding company for PeoplesBank, a community-focused commercial bank headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, PeoplesBank, PFIS offers a full suite of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and commercial clients. These services include deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, commercial and industrial lending, and treasury management solutions.

Founded in 1842, PeoplesBank has grown organically and through selective acquisitions to become a prominent community bank in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut.