Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock: Insider James Chiaro Sells 605 Shares

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) EVP James Chiaro sold 605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.26, for a total value of $44,322.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,106. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

PFIS opened at $72.24 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $723.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.77. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 1-year low of $45.95 and a 1-year high of $76.49.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 20.51%. The company had revenue of $52.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.80 million. Research analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be issued a $0.6250 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 41.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,886,000 after purchasing an additional 17,655 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,494,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,987,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $49,412,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $917,000. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, a community banking institution headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The bank provides financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipal customers.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, business loans, lines of credit and other treasury-management services.