Peoples Financial Services CORP. Has $9.15 Million Stake in Peoples Financial Services Corp. $PFIS

Peoples Financial Services CORP. trimmed its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 188,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,352 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services comprises about 4.1% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Peoples Financial Services were worth $9,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PFIS. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 434.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PFIS shares. Hovde Group cut their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Stephens set a $50.00 target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Peoples Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PFIS opened at $50.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $499.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.90 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $38.90 and a 12 month high of $54.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.70.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $3.19. The company had revenue of $65.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.00 million. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 18.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.6175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 29.16%.

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.