Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Receives $26.79 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.7857.

Several analysts have weighed in on PFS shares. Stephens started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, August 3rd.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $23.37 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.The firm had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.57 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total value of $487,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,424 shares in the company, valued at $1,374,488.64. This represents a 26.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFS. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 23.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 624,648 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,218,000 after acquiring an additional 118,432 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 82.0% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 341,162 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,219,000 after acquiring an additional 153,698 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $4,209,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,916,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,868,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.