Peoples Financial Services Corp. $PFIS Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors increased its PFIS stake by 5.9% in the first quarter, owning 316,621 shares valued at approximately $16.9 million, or 3.16% of Peoples Financial Services. Institutional investors collectively hold 31.67% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with one Buy rating and two Hold ratings, producing an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $65.50. Hovde Group raised its target to $75 while maintaining a Market Perform rating.
• PFIS reported quarterly EPS of $1.48, below the $1.64 consensus estimate, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, equivalent to a 3.5% annualized yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 316,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 3.16% of Peoples Financial Services worth $16,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFIS. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PFIS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of PFIS stock opened at $70.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.05 and a 200-day moving average of $59.09. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a 12 month low of $43.64 and a 12 month high of $73.37. The firm has a market cap of $707.31 million, a PE ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.75.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.66% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $97.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.35 million.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Peoples Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.31%.

Peoples Financial Services Profile

Peoples Financial Services Corporation is the bank holding company for PeoplesBank, a community-focused commercial bank headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, PeoplesBank, PFIS offers a full suite of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and commercial clients. These services include deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, commercial and industrial lending, and treasury management solutions.

Founded in 1842, PeoplesBank has grown organically and through selective acquisitions to become a prominent community bank in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut.

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