Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director James Nicholas Sells 3,984 Shares of Stock

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director James Nicholas sold 3,984 shares of Peoples Financial Services stock in a transaction on 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFIS stock opened at $72.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $726.53 million, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12 month low of $46.07 and a 12 month high of $76.49.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $52.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.80 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 20.51%. Sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.6250 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Peoples Financial Services from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 17.5% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 466.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,386,000 after acquiring an additional 65,846 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $393,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $336,000. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.