Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Short Interest Up 19.6% in February

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 61,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 51,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 30,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Peoples Financial Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Peoples Financial Services stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.87. 17,231 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,453. Peoples Financial Services has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $59.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $468.47 million, a P/E ratio of 41.48 and a beta of 0.56. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $50.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.76.

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Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.17). Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 3.70%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.6175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Peoples Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 218.58%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In other news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $47.12 per share, with a total value of $47,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,118.48. This represents a 6.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $239,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 28,321 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.