Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Share Price Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.89 and traded as high as $56.13. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $55.22, with a volume of 19,369 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Stephens set a $50.00 target price on Peoples Financial Services and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Down 1.6%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.89 and its 200 day moving average is $49.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $551.65 million, a PE ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $89.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.25 million. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.50% and a return on equity of 18.84%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.29%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 3.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 284,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,836,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 231,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,430,000 after buying an additional 12,447 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 68,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 5,237 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after buying an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

Peoples Financial Services Corporation is the bank holding company for PeoplesBank, a community-focused commercial bank headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, PeoplesBank, PFIS offers a full suite of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and commercial clients. These services include deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, commercial and industrial lending, and treasury management solutions.

Founded in 1842, PeoplesBank has grown organically and through selective acquisitions to become a prominent community bank in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut.