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

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PFS shares. Zacks Research cut Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson lowered Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of PFS opened at $20.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.88. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $21.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.91.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $114.54 million during the quarter. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.62%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Lista sold 8,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $151,607.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,993,837.60. This represents a 7.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 84.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,207,898 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $55,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,432 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the first quarter worth $17,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 40.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,308,774 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,513,000 after buying an additional 664,021 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter valued at $10,545,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,548,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.