StockNews.com Lowers Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $47.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.27. Peoples Financial Services has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $51.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $337.61 million, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.51.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $41.92 million during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 10.07%. As a group, research analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.618 per share. This is a boost from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.77%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $43,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,864.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,604 shares of company stock valued at $73,008. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $355,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.