Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 54.4% in September

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 379,590 shares, a growth of 54.4% from the September 15th total of 245,876 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 64,839 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Up 0.4%

PFIS stock opened at $68.30 on Friday. Peoples Financial Services has a twelve month low of $43.64 and a twelve month high of $73.37. The company has a market cap of $683.68 million, a PE ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 20.66% and a return on equity of 17.27%. The firm had revenue of $97.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.35 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.6250 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 28.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFIS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Financial Services in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Peoples Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Peoples Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,412,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,987,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,494,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 316,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,886,000 after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $917,000. 31.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Its principal subsidiary, Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company, provides community banking services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

The company offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business loans and other financing solutions. Its services also include cash management and treasury services, online and mobile banking, trust and wealth management, investment services and insurance-related offerings.

Peoples Security Bank and Trust serves communities primarily in northeastern Pennsylvania and portions of southern New York through a network of banking offices and digital channels.