Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) to Buyback $2.81 million in Outstanding Shares

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, January 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.81 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.1%

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $20.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.85. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $21.71.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.55. The company had revenue of $221.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.90 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 18.76%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO George Lista sold 8,262 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $151,607.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,837.60. This trade represents a 7.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.