Insider Selling: Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Chairman Sells 55,668 Shares of Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 601,050 shares in the company, valued at $10,259,923.50. This represents a 8.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $16.42. The stock had a trading volume of 533,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 724,005. The company's 50-day moving average is $16.51 and its 200 day moving average is $17.89. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.07 and a 12-month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.86.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $206.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 86.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 105.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,581 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 13,151 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,931 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 392,600 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $7,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 35,936.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,928 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 7,906 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 632,544 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $11,936,000 after acquiring an additional 17,749 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.