Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of Peoples Financial Services worth $1,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFIS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 buying an additional 9,122 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 15,802 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 16,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 413.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 31,102 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $55.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.93. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $59.70. The firm has a market cap of $552.12 million, a P/E ratio of 53.63 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $74.01 million for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 3.00%. On average, analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.618 dividend. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 239.81%.

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.