Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Separately, Stephens decreased their target price on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 1.8 %

PFIS stock opened at $44.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $441.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.87. Peoples Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $36.26 and a fifty-two week high of $51.00.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company had revenue of $41.92 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In other Peoples Financial Services news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $43,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $682,864.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,604 shares of company stock worth $73,008. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 191,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,740,000 after purchasing an additional 9,122 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 47,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 322,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,915,000 after purchasing an additional 6,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peoples Financial Services Company Profile

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.