Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) EVP Jeffrey Drobins Sells 2,500 Shares of Company Stock

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) EVP Jeffrey Drobins sold 2,500 shares of Peoples Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.47, for a total value of $186,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,336.61. This trade represents a 41.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFIS opened at $73.15 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.81. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 52 week low of $46.00 and a 52 week high of $76.49. The company has a market capitalization of $732.23 million, a PE ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.19. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $52.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.80 million. Research analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFIS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Hovde Group increased their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.50.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $201,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $233,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $319,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.