StockNews.com Downgrades Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of PFIS stock opened at $47.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $337.61 million, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.27. Peoples Financial Services has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $51.00.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The business had revenue of $41.92 million for the quarter. Analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 a boost 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 5.17%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.77%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $43,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,864.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,604 shares of company stock valued at $73,008 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,915,000 after acquiring an additional 6,776 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,740,000 after purchasing an additional 9,122 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Peoples Financial Services by 7.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.