Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 48,902 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 30,377 shares.The stock last traded at $50.28 and had previously closed at $49.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $503.80 million, a PE ratio of 48.96 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.59.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $74.01 million for the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 7.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.618 per share. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 239.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $149,000. RBF Capital LLC bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $342,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 9,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Financial Services

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.