Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,373 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Peoples Financial Services worth $1,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 377.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 16,164 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 9,239 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 14.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 211,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,914,000 after buying an additional 27,463 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 6.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 181,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PFIS. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFIS opened at $52.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $524.28 million, a PE ratio of 46.44 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $59.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.31.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.17). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 8.97%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.6175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 218.59%.

Peoples Financial Services 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.