Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $60.74 and last traded at $59.96, with a volume of 28803 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PFIS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.12. The stock has a market cap of $600.20 million, a P/E ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.77.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.11). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The business had revenue of $92.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.95 million.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 27.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFIS. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 429.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after buying an additional 27,489 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 buying an additional 17,655 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the first quarter valued at approximately $467,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after buying an additional 7,159 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 48.2% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 21,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 6,873 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

Peoples Financial Services Corporation is the bank holding company for PeoplesBank, a community-focused commercial bank headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, PeoplesBank, PFIS offers a full suite of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and commercial clients. These services include deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, commercial and industrial lending, and treasury management solutions.

Founded in 1842, PeoplesBank has grown organically and through selective acquisitions to become a prominent community bank in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut.