Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) released its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.10), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $92.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.90 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 21.50%.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of PFIS traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $56.96. The company had a trading volume of 59,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,425. The stock has a market cap of $570.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.29 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.65. Peoples Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $43.24 and a fifty-two week high of $59.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens lifted 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 note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFIS. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 429.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 27,489 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 298,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,563,000 after purchasing an additional 14,333 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at $467,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 21,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $270,000. 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.