Insider Selling: Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Director Sells $370,470.00 in Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 423,177 shares in the company, valued at $9,860,024.10. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total value of $928,533.96.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $23.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.97 and a 200 day moving average of $22.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12 month low of $17.69 and a 12 month high of $25.49.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $234.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 23.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,106 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 8,507 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 74,926 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,277 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 256,739 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 15,112 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 247.5% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 312,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,365,000 after acquiring an additional 222,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,261 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 22,961 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

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.