Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 18.46%. The company had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year.
Provident Financial Services Stock Performance
PFS stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.46. 1,137,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 692,864. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.65. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.21 and a 12 month high of $19.62.
Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is 56.14%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total transaction of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,351,187 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $265,617,000 after purchasing an additional 70,302 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,217,716 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $160,245,000 after purchasing an additional 124,787 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,086,247 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $66,769,000 after purchasing an additional 132,482 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,461,829 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 45,643 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 60.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,073,084 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $25,110,000 after buying an additional 403,067 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFS. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.50.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Provident Financial Services
About Provident Financial Services
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Provident Financial Services, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Provident Financial Services wasn't on the list.
While Provident Financial Services currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five short plays for May 2024. Learn which stocks have the most short interest and how to trade them. Click the link below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
