Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares experienced a volume surge of 111% to 81,191 shares, last trading around $55.44 and sitting near its 50-day ($54.84) and 200-day ($51.65) moving averages.
• Q1 results were mixed: EPS of $1.43 missed estimates by $0.11 while revenue jumped to $92.63M well above forecasts; the stock trades at a low P/E of 6.21 and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.625 (annualized yield ~4.4%).
• Analyst and institutional signals are mixed—Weiss upgraded to a Buy but the MarketBeat consensus is a Hold with a $53 target below the current price, and institutions own about 31.7% with recent buying by RBC, Empowered Funds and a new stake from Jane Street.

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 81,191 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 111% from the previous session's volume of 38,459 shares.The stock last traded at $55.4370 and had previously closed at $56.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average is $54.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.65. The stock has a market cap of $566.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 0.77.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $92.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.95 million. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 21.50%.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Peoples Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.62%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Peoples Financial Services by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,651 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $467,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.67% of the company's stock.

About Peoples Financial Services

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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