Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Share Price Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $48.30 and traded as low as $48.17. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $48.51, with a volume of 16,654 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PFIS shares. Hovde Group increased their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stephens raised Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.35. The company has a market cap of $468.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.52 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.618 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 239.81%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $149,000. RBF Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $342,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 4,627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

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.