Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)’s share price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.25 and traded as high as $59.75. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $59.49, with a volume of 43,759 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 3.5%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $57.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.62. The company has a market capitalization of $595.55 million, a P/E ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFIS. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 429.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 27,489 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,886,000 after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth about $467,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 21,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares in the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Peoples Financial Services

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.