John Pugliese Sells 25,000 Shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $497,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,228.37. The trade was a 22.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS opened at $19.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.94.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,469,432 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,069,463 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $53,815,000 after buying an additional 41,758 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,584,298 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,372,000 after buying an additional 127,897 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 0.6% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,978,498 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,683,000 after buying an additional 11,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,402,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,585,000 after buying an additional 22,986 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PFS. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

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.