Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Stock Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.25 and traded as high as $59.75. Peoples Financial Services shares last traded at $59.49, with a volume of 43,759 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens lifted their price target on Peoples Financial Services from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Peoples Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Peoples Financial Services from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $601.80 million, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.77.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted 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). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $92.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.95 million.

Peoples Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Peoples Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 27.69%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFIS. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 59.1% in the 2nd 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 stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 2.6% in the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.