Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Upgraded by Stephens to “Overweight” Rating

Stephens upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PFIS. StockNews.com raised Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Peoples Financial Services stock opened at $55.24 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.38. The company has a market cap of $551.85 million, a PE ratio of 53.63 and a beta of 0.55. Peoples Financial Services has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $59.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.56. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 7.73%. The business had revenue of $74.01 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.618 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 239.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,915,000 after acquiring an additional 6,776 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 7,831 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,740,000 after purchasing an additional 9,122 shares in the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.