Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

PFS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.1 %

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $15.54 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.21 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Provident Financial Services’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total transaction of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $271,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 7.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 889,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,605,000 after purchasing an additional 60,765 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 76.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 109,041 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 47,217 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $681,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $573,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.