Savant Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Savant Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC owned 0.06% of Peoples Financial Services worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 58.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,126,000 after buying an additional 16,753 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 211,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,914,000 after buying an additional 27,463 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 377.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 16,164 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 9,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 45.0% during 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 during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens upgraded Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 1.2 %

PFIS stock opened at $52.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap 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 quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.35. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $59.70.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 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%. On average, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.6175 dividend. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 218.59%.

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.