Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Holdings Lifted by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) by 20.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,911 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Peoples Financial Services were worth $2,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,989,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 377.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 16,164 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 9,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $47.12 per share, for a total transaction of $47,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,118.48. This represents a 6.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PFIS opened at $45.78 on Friday. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $59.70. The stock has a market cap of $457.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.17). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 8.97%. Equities analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.6175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 218.58%.

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.