Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Short Interest Up 19.9% in March

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 88,500 shares, a growth of 19.9% from the March 15th total of 73,800 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 26,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of PFIS traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,414. Peoples Financial Services has a 1 year low of $37.41 and a 1 year 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 company has a market cap of $428.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.92 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.88 and a 200 day moving average of $49.09.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Peoples Financial Services will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.6175 per share. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Peoples Financial Services's payout ratio is presently 218.58%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Financial Services

In other news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $47.12 per share, with a total value of $47,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,118.48. This trade represents a 6.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 232,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,876,000 after acquiring an additional 9,889 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 14.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 211,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,914,000 after purchasing an additional 27,463 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Peoples Financial Services by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 181,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Peoples Financial Services by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 82,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,911 shares in the last quarter. 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.