Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $60.32 and last traded at $59.44, with a volume of 21751 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $59.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PFIS shares. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stephens boosted their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $601.40 million, a PE ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.72.

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

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 27.69%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 1,338.3% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in 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.