Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,122 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.72% of Peoples Financial Services worth $8,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFIS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $355,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $43,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,864.50. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 1,604 shares of company stock valued at $73,008 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.4 %

PFIS opened at $45.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $453.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.51. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $51.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.67.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $41.92 million for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 5.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.618 dividend. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.77%.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company that provides various commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts.