Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Chairman Sells $950,252.76 in 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 dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $950,252.76. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 601,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,259,923.50. This trade represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $16.22. The company had a trading volume of 483,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,237. 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 $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.77. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.07 and a 1-year high of $22.24.

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

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.92%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is presently 86.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 193.8% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 30.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.