Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.9286.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PFS. Stephens began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. The trade was a 2.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 509,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,823,000 after acquiring an additional 64,026 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $444,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 40.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,096,733 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $21,145,000 after purchasing an additional 279,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,209,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.8%

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $23.14 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.38. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.78. Provident Financial Services has a 52-week low of $15.92 and a 52-week high of $23.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $225.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.62 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 21.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts predict that Provident Financial Services will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 40.85%.

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.