Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PFIS. Hovde Group reduced their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFIS stock opened at $42.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $297.79 million, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.76. Peoples Financial Services has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $49.99.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $22.72 million for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 7.52%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFIS. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company that provides various commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts.