Peoples Financial Services Corp. $PFIS Shares Sold by Peoples Financial Services CORP.

Peoples Financial Services CORP. reduced its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,352 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services makes up approximately 4.1% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Peoples Financial Services CORP. owned approximately 1.88% of Peoples Financial Services worth $9,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,993,000. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $568,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $11,430,000 after acquiring an additional 12,447 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 28.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFIS opened at $50.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $499.60 million, a PE ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.37 and a 200-day moving average of $49.70. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 52-week low of $38.90 and a 52-week high of $54.20.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $3.19. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.