Insider Buying: Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director Purchases $43,900.00 in Stock

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $43,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $682,864.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 4.6 %

NASDAQ PFIS traded down $2.05 on Friday, hitting $42.92. The stock had a trading volume of 81,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,603. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $51.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $302.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $41.92 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.618 dividend. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.77%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFIS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFIS. Stephens cut their price target on 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. Hovde Group cut their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

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.