Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock Price Passes Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $48.30 and traded as low as $48.17. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $48.51, with a volume of 16,654 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFIS has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens upgraded Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $484.86 million, a PE ratio of 47.10 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $52.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.56. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 3.00%. The company had revenue of $74.01 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.618 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 239.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Peoples Financial Services by 14.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 211,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,914,000 after buying an additional 27,463 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,740,000 after purchasing an additional 9,122 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 181,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,385,000 after buying an additional 15,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after buying an additional 7,831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.