Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.63

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of 0.625 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is a 1.2% increase from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Peoples Financial Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 8 years. Peoples Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 39.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ PFIS traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 957 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,785. The company has a market capitalization of $542.51 million, a PE ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Peoples Financial Services has a 52 week low of $38.90 and a 52 week high of $57.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.33.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 21.50%.The company had revenue of $89.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.25 million. Research analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 298,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,563,000 after acquiring an additional 14,333 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Peoples Financial Services by 5.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 231,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,430,000 after buying an additional 12,447 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 73,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,595,000 after buying an additional 4,867 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 4,867 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,182,000 after acquiring an additional 7,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

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.