Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.17), Zacks reports. Peoples Financial Services had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 7.73%.

Peoples Financial Services Stock Performance

PFIS traded up $0.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.70. 11,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,890. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $536.73 million, a P/E ratio of 52.14 and a beta of 0.56. Peoples Financial Services has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $59.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.96 and its 200 day moving average is $49.17.

Peoples Financial Services Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.6175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. Peoples Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 239.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Peoples Financial Services from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

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.