Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Receives $22.70 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.70.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PFS shares. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,069,463 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $53,815,000 after acquiring an additional 41,758 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,584,298 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,372,000 after acquiring an additional 127,897 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,978,498 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,683,000 after acquiring an additional 11,647 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,402,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,585,000 after acquiring an additional 22,986 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $20.03 on Tuesday. Provident Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $14.34 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.94. 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 simple moving average is $18.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.54.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 54.24%.

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.