Rhumbline Advisers Buys 518 Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.13% of Peoples Financial Services worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PFIS. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 60.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 4,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RBF Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PFIS. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens upgraded Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In other Peoples Financial Services news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $47.12 per share, for a total transaction of $47,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,129 shares in the company, valued at $807,118.48. This trade represents a 6.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $46.87 on Friday. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.26 and a 1 year high of $59.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.21 and its 200 day moving average is $49.73. The company has a market cap of $468.47 million, a PE ratio of 41.48 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.6175 dividend. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 218.58%.

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.