Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 17,655 Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. $PFIS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Peoples Financial Services were worth $16,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PFIS. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $70.66 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $707.31 million, a P/E ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.75. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1 year low of $43.64 and a 1 year high of $73.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.09.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.66% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $97.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.35 million.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st 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 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 28.31%.

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.