Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday. 94,292 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 78% from the average daily volume of 52,872 shares. The stock last traded at $74.9220 and had previously closed at $72.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PFIS. Hovde Group increased their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.36. The stock has a market cap of $747.45 million, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.77.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $52.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.80 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 20.51%. Analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.6250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.39%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,412,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 466.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,386,000 after buying an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,987,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,494,000. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, a community banking institution headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The bank provides financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipal customers.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, business loans, lines of credit and other treasury-management services.