Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director Acquires $47,120.00 in Stock

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $47.12 per share, with a total value of $47,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,129 shares in the company, valued at $807,118.48. The trade was a 6.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PFIS opened at $46.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $468.47 million, a P/E ratio of 41.48 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.26 and a 12-month high of $59.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.79.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.17). Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 3.70%. Analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.6175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 218.58%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 51,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFIS. Hovde Group increased their price target on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Stephens raised Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

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.