Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on PFS. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $18.55 on Thursday. Provident Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.15 and a 200 day moving average of $18.54.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 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, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 68.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 407,581 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,849,000 after buying an additional 165,554 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 74.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,496 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 14,756 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 110,008 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 43,895 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,914,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 9.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,550,462 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $36,599,000 after purchasing an additional 225,839 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.