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

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 48,902 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 30,377 shares.The stock last traded at $50.28 and had previously closed at $49.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $502.10 million, a PE ratio of 48.80 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.52. 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $74.01 million during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 3.00%. On average, analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given 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 4.92%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 239.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $149,000. RBF Capital LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $342,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 9,239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.