Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.25 and traded as high as $59.75. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $59.49, with a volume of 43,759 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFIS shares. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Peoples Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Trading Up 3.5%

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.25 and its 200-day moving average is $53.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $595.55 million, a P/E ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 27.69%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 73,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,595,000 after purchasing an additional 4,867 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 55,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,917 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 19.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 36,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Peoples Financial Services

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.