Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Reaches New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $54.55 and last traded at $54.5950, with a volume of 11022 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.10.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is an increase from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. 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. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.60. The company has a market cap of $538.16 million, a P/E ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 284,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,836,000 after acquiring an additional 10,716 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 231,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,430,000 after purchasing an additional 12,447 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 8.2% in the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 68,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.