Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 72,500 shares, a drop of 33.5% from the August 31st total of 109,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 27,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

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

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 3,409 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 87.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 1,589 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ PFIS traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.45. 9,631 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,465. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Peoples Financial Services has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $51.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.45. The company has a market capitalization of $463.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.51.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $41.92 million for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 5.93%. On average, analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.618 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

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.