Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director James Nicholas Sells 3,984 Shares of Stock

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director James Nicholas sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $287,126.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Down 0.3%

PFIS stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.94. 23,858 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,697. The firm has a market capitalization of $730.13 million, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.77. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1 year low of $46.07 and a 1 year high of $76.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.18 and a 200-day moving average of $62.81. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $52.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.80 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 20.51%. Analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,412,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,886,000 after buying an additional 17,655 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 466.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,386,000 after buying an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,987,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,494,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PFIS. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

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.