Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sets New 1-Year High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $74.00 and last traded at $73.7450, with a volume of 36,708 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.32.

The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $52.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.80 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 20.51%.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 30th will be paid a $0.6250 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 41.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $49,412,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,987,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter worth about $3,494,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,886,000 after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $917,000. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Up 4.7%

The firm has a market cap of $737.20 million, a PE ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.12.

About Peoples Financial Services

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.