Insider Buying: Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Director Purchases 1,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Peoples Financial Services Corp. Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares at an average price of $47.67, increasing his ownership by 5.77% to a total of 18,319 shares.
• The company reported $1.69 earnings per share for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.48 per share.
• Peoples Financial Services recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6175 per share, providing a dividend yield of 5.1% for shareholders.

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of Peoples Financial Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $47.67 per share, for a total transaction of $47,670.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 18,319 shares in the company, valued at $873,266.73. The trade was a 5.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Peoples Financial Services stock traded up $1.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $50.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,660. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a one year low of $38.90 and a one year high of $59.70. The stock has a market cap of $503.36 million, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.21. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 11.80% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $48.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $46.75 million. As a group, analysts expect that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.6175 dividend. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Peoples Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in Peoples Financial Services by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 5,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.