Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,776 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.57% of Peoples Financial Services worth $13,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $355,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Financial Services

In other news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $43,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $682,864.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have bought 1,604 shares of company stock worth $73,008 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFIS stock opened at $42.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $51.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.89 million, a P/E ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company had revenue of $41.92 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.618 dividend. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 75.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFIS. StockNews.com raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stephens cut their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company that provides various commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts.