Peoples Financial Services CORP. Sells 13,682 Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. decreased its holdings in Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,682 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services comprises approximately 5.0% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP. owned about 2.10% of Peoples Financial Services worth $10,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter worth $149,000. RBF Capital LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $342,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 304.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 9,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 60.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 4,627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFIS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Peoples Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFIS stock traded up $1.20 on Wednesday, hitting $50.15. The company had a trading volume of 36,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,893. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $59.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $501.25 million, a P/E ratio of 48.69 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.50.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.56. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 7.73%. The business had revenue of $74.01 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.618 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Peoples Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 239.81%.

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.