Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.12% of Peoples Financial Services worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 1,589 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $43,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $682,864.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,604 shares of company stock valued at $73,008. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Peoples Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $47.84 on Monday. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $51.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.27. The firm has a market cap of $337.61 million, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.618 per share. 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 5.17%. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.77%.

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.