First Trust Advisors LP Purchases Shares of 6,060 Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Peoples Financial Services as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 9,239 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $47.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.93. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1 year low of $37.50 and a 1 year high of $59.70. 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 has a market cap of $476.86 million, a P/E ratio of 42.22 and a beta of 0.70.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $62.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.35 million. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 8.97%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.6175 per share. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $47.12 per share, for a total transaction of $47,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,129 shares in the company, valued at $807,118.48. This trade represents a 6.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.00% 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.