Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Director Sells 15,900 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Thomas Shara sold 15,900 Provident Financial Services shares at an average price of $23.30, totaling $370,470. He retained 423,177 shares, while also selling 40,266 shares in a separate transaction the following day.
• Provident Financial Services shares fell 1.9% to $22.95. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.60 EPS versus the $0.56 consensus and revenue of $234.96 million.
• The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.24, equivalent to a $0.96 annualized payout and a 4.2% yield. Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $26.79.

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) Director Thomas Shara sold 15,900 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.30, for a total value of $370,470.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 423,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,860,024.10. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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 value of $928,533.96.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:PFS traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.95. 814,764 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 966,686. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $25.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.69.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. DA Davidson set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.79.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFS. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2,218.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,310,664 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $78,264,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167,850 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $355,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 76.8% during the 2nd quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 39,894 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 17,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $443,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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