Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $1.31 Million Stock Holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.41% of Peoples Financial Services worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in 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 valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of Peoples Financial Services stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $43,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,864.50. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 1,604 shares of company stock worth $73,008. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of PFIS opened at $45.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.40 million, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.51. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $51.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.87 and its 200-day moving average is $42.64.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $41.92 million during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given 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 yield of 5.46%. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 75.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.