Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $63.56 and last traded at $62.91, with a volume of 53583 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lifted their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $629.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 0.77.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.11). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The business had revenue of $92.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.95 million.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 27.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 1,338.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.