Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $60.74 and last traded at $59.96, with a volume of 28803 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lifted their price target on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Down 0.2%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.12. The stock has a market cap of $600.20 million, a P/E ratio of 6.64 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.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $92.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.95 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 21.29%.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% in the 1st 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 lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 9.7% in the 1st 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 lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 13.9% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Financial Services

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.