Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) EVP Vito Giannola Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) EVP Vito Giannola sold 20,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total transaction of $487,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 56,424 shares in the company, valued at $1,374,488.64. This represents a 26.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $23.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.89 and a 200-day moving average of $22.67. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $25.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $234.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 11.00%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 132,366 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,129,000 after buying an additional 19,209 shares in the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $273,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $467,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $36,916,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PFS. Hovde Group upped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

About Provident Financial Services

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.