Insider Selling: Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Director Sells 15,900 Shares

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Director Thomas Shara sold 15,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.30, for a total transaction of $370,470.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 423,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,860,024.10. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Thomas Shara also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 1st, Thomas Shara sold 40,266 shares of Provident Financial Services stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $928,533.96.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:PFS traded down $0.45 on Tuesday, reaching $22.95. 814,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 966,686. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $25.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.98 and its 200-day moving average is $22.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $86,000. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFS. DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stephens started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.