Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 25,741 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 18,198 shares.The stock last traded at $59.38 and had previously closed at $58.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group increased their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $576.72 million, a P/E ratio of 57.05 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.28.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.56. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 3.00%. The firm had revenue of $74.01 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 3.43 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.618 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 239.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFIS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,915,000 after acquiring an additional 6,776 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% in 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. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company 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.