Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Hovde Group cut their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

PFIS opened at $43.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.70. Peoples Financial Services has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $49.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $308.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.52.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The business had revenue of $22.72 million during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 50.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFIS. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the third quarter valued at about $333,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $355,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

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.