Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) experienced a 69% increase in trading volume, with 44,233 shares traded recently compared to 26,113 shares in the prior session.
• The stock was upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus price target set at $53.00.
• Peoples Financial Services announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6175, yielding 4.7%, which will be paid on September 15th to investors of record on August 29th.

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 44,233 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 69% from the previous session's volume of 26,113 shares.The stock last traded at $52.58 and had previously closed at $52.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Peoples Financial Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.00.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $512.29 million, a P/E ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.10.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.21. Peoples Financial Services had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 11.80%.The business had revenue of $48.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $46.75 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services Corp. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.6175 per share. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Peoples Financial Services's payout ratio is 73.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard S. Lochen, Jr. bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $47.67 per share, for a total transaction of $47,670.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 18,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $873,266.73. The trade was a 5.77% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 2,903 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares in the last quarter. 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.