Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the four research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.25.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFS. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS opened at $16.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.61. Provident Financial Services has a 1-year low of $13.07 and a 1-year high of $22.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.86.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 6.38% and a net margin of 11.45%. The business had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Provident Financial Services news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 601,050 shares in the company, valued at $10,259,923.50. This trade represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 392,600 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 632,544 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,936,000 after buying an additional 17,749 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,422 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,655 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 26,374 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.