Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.21 and traded as high as $64.42. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $64.24, with a volume of 49,314 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Hovde Group raised 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 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 2.4%

The stock has a market cap of $643.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $92.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.95 million.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.