Analysts Set Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) PT at $22.70

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PFS shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

PFS stock opened at $18.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 0.91. Provident Financial Services has a 1 year low of $14.34 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.87.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $114.54 million for the quarter. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 16.97%. On average, research analysts predict 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, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $497,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,228.37. The trade was a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $59,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 358.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 633.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,040 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 193.8% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by 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.