Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFIS opened at $55.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.38. Peoples Financial Services has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $59.70. The stock has a market cap of $551.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.63 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.618 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 239.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $149,000. RBF Capital LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $342,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 9,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.