Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group upped their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,259,923.50. This trade represents a 8.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 84.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,207,898 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $55,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,432 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the first quarter valued at $17,412,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $17,447,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $10,545,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $9,548,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock opened at $19.27 on Friday. Provident Financial Services has a 1 year low of $14.34 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.89.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 16.97%. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

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.