Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Peoples Financial Services from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PFIS stock traded down $0.16 on Friday, reaching $72.69. The company had a trading volume of 33,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,159. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $727.77 million, a PE ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.42 and a 200-day moving average of $63.24. Peoples Financial Services has a 12 month low of $46.07 and a 12 month high of $76.49.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $52.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.80 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director James B. Nicholas sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $287,126.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James P. Chiaro sold 605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.26, for a total value of $44,322.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,106. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,089 shares of company stock worth $517,624. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,982,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter worth $61,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 116.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.