Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Receives $24.25 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.60.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:PFS opened at $17.77 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.55. Provident Financial Services has a 52 week low of $14.14 and a 52 week high of $22.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 6.38% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $208.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 86.49%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 101,830 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 21,993 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,649 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 9,296.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,841 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 25,566 shares during the period. Man Group plc bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $296,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 980,654 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $18,505,000 after purchasing an additional 184,799 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.