Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $57.71 and last traded at $56.9350, with a volume of 7297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group lowered their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.98. The company has a market capitalization of $570.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.81.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $89.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.25 million. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.50% and a return on equity of 18.84%. On average, analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.29%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 1,338.3% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 434.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.