Analysts Set Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Target Price at $22.70

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. DA Davidson lowered Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 3.4%

PFS opened at $19.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $21.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.44.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $114.54 million for the quarter. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 48.98%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $59,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,633 shares in the company, valued at $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $497,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 87,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,750,228.37. This trade represents a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 36,262 shares of company stock worth $709,058 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 84.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,207,898 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $55,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,432 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the first quarter worth $17,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,308,774 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,513,000 after purchasing an additional 664,021 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,545,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter worth $9,548,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.