Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Provident Financial Services has received an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy", with four analysts recommending a buy and one a strong buy.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.55, which surpassed the consensus estimate by $0.05, reflecting a strong performance compared to the previous year's loss.
• Provident Financial Services declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding approximately 4.9%, with a payout ratio of 54.24%.

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of PFS opened at $19.72 on Friday. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The firm's 50 day moving average is $19.30 and its 200-day moving average is $17.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $213.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is 54.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $497,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,750,228.37. The trade was a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $59,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $788,696.70. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 45.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 26.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 54,975 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 11,453 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 18.4% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 73,989 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 11,494 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 913.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 111,992 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 100,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 6.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 29,096 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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