Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 48,902 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 30,377 shares.The stock last traded at $50.28 and had previously closed at $49.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens raised Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $503.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.96 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.59.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $74.01 million during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 3.00%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.618 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is 239.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PFIS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 58.6% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after buying an additional 16,753 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 211,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,914,000 after acquiring an additional 27,463 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 15,802 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 181,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 9,239 shares during the period. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Peoples Financial Services

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.