Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $63.56 and last traded at $62.91, with a volume of 53583 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $61.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

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 market cap of $629.79 million, a PE ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.03.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $92.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 27.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 4,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.