Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Price Target to $19.00

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the savings and loans company’s stock.

PFS has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday. TheStreet lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $15.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.66. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $13.21 and a 12-month high of $19.62.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 60.00%.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 8.9% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments Inc. grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 7.4% in the third quarter. WBI Investments Inc. now owns 19,541 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 5.6% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 27,121 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 2.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 62,897 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 157,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.