Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 54.4% in September

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 379,590 shares, a growth of 54.4% from the September 15th total of 245,876 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 64,839 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFIS. 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 acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $215,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $336,000. Archer Investment Corp purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $332,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,987,000. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of PFIS traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.30. The company had a trading volume of 95,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,056. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Peoples Financial Services has a 1-year low of $43.64 and a 1-year high of $73.37. The stock has a market cap of $683.68 million, a PE ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.75.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.66% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The company had revenue of $97.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.35 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.6250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 28.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Its principal subsidiary, Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, provides community banking services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

The company offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business loans and other financing solutions. Its services also include cash management and treasury services, online and mobile banking, trust and wealth management, investment services and insurance-related offerings.

Peoples Security Bank and Trust serves communities primarily in northeastern Pennsylvania and portions of southern New York through a network of banking offices and digital channels.