Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $52.79, but opened at $50.56. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $50.51, with a volume of 817 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.2%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.61. 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 company has a market cap of $506.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.81.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $3.19. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 20.17%.The firm had revenue of $65.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.00 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were given 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 1,338.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter valued at 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 purchasing an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. 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.