Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director Sells $287,126.88 in Stock

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director James Nicholas sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $287,126.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.6%

PFIS stock opened at $72.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $729.23 million, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.13. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $46.07 and a fifty-two week high of $76.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $52.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.80 million. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 11.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.6250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,412,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,886,000 after purchasing an additional 17,655 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 466.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,386,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,987,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,494,000. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PFIS. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.50.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, provides community banking services. The company serves individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, with a presence across northeastern and central Pennsylvania. Its services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, consumer loans, and commercial lending. Customers can also access online and mobile banking and business cash-management services.