Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $28.00 target price on the savings and loans company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $26.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.44% from the stock’s current price.

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

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 1.8%

PFS traded up $0.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $25.12. 309,701 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,000. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.78. Provident Financial Services has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $25.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.The business had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total value of $57,254.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. The trade was a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,359,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 576,673 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,483,000 after buying an additional 342,301 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 251.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 413,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,242,000 after buying an additional 295,521 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 3.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $170,775,000 after buying an additional 256,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 493.6% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 301,329 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,951,000 after acquiring an additional 250,566 shares in the last quarter. 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.