Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock Short Interest Report for September

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 379,590 shares, an increase of 54.4% from the September 15th total of 245,876 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 64,839 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth $61,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the second quarter worth $201,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth $215,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the second quarter worth $233,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the first quarter worth $267,000. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFIS. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research report on Friday, September 4th. One investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFIS traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.47. 24,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 52,394. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.77. The firm has a market cap of $685.34 million, a PE ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.75. Peoples Financial Services has a 52 week low of $43.64 and a 52 week high of $73.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 20.66%. The firm had revenue of $97.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.35 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $0.6250 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.31%.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Its principal subsidiary, Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, provides community banking services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

The company offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business loans and other financing solutions. Its services also include cash management and treasury services, online and mobile banking, trust and wealth management, investment services and insurance-related offerings.

Peoples Security Bank and Trust serves communities primarily in northeastern Pennsylvania and portions of southern New York through a network of banking offices and digital channels.