Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) Raises Dividend to $0.63 Per Share

Peoples Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:PFIS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.625 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is a 1.2% increase from Peoples Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Peoples Financial Services has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. Peoples Financial Services has a payout ratio of 39.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Peoples Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFIS traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.57. The company had a trading volume of 3,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,801. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.99 and its 200-day moving average is $50.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Peoples Financial Services has a twelve month low of $38.90 and a twelve month high of $57.71. The company has a market capitalization of $545.15 million, a P/E ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.81.

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.16). Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 21.50% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The business had revenue of $89.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.25 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Financial Services will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Financial Services

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFIS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Peoples Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 1,338.3% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Peoples Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Financial Services by 434.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.