Thomas Shara Sells 15,900 Shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Director Thomas Shara sold 15,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.30, for a total value of $370,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 423,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,860,024.10. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $928,533.96.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $23.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.69. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $25.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $234.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 11.00%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 358.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the second quarter worth about $55,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFS. DA Davidson set a $26.00 price target on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Hovde Group increased their target price 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.