Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . 74,586 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 48,192 shares.The stock last traded at $67.6860 and had previously closed at $68.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $671.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.55.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced 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). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The business had revenue of $92.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.95 million.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 429.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,647,000 after buying an additional 27,489 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $16,886,000 after purchasing an additional 17,655 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the first quarter worth about $467,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Peoples Financial Services by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 21,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 6,873 shares in the last quarter. 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.