Insider Selling: Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Chairman Sells $24,622.50 in Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Chairman Christopher Martin sold 1,050 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.45, for a total transaction of $24,622.50. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,070,000. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $23.83 on Monday. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $23.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.63.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 21.06%.The business had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, January 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.81 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to purchase up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,210 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 45.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 633.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,040 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PFS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price objective on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.70.

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.