Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Upgraded at DA Davidson

DA Davidson upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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 given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.90.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $22.18 on Tuesday. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $14.34 and a 12-month high of $23.98. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.05.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 21.06%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.05%.

Provident Financial Services announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, January 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.81 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to repurchase up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.