Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

PFS has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $18.39 on Tuesday. Provident Financial Services has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 1.08.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 55.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 795,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,771,000 after purchasing an additional 283,879 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 10.6% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,947,394 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,715,000 after buying an additional 53,943 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after buying an additional 90,238 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Provident Financial Services

Provident Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products.