Short Interest in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Grows By 19.6%

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 61,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 51,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 30,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 16,753 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,385,000 after buying an additional 15,802 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. RBF Capital LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $342,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 4,627 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 1.4 %

PFIS traded down $0.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $46.43. 5,295 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,301. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.74. Peoples Financial Services has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $59.70. The stock has a market cap of $464.07 million, a P/E ratio of 41.09 and a beta of 0.56.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.17). Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 3.70%. Equities analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.6175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 218.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

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.