Vito Giannola Sells 20,000 Shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) EVP Vito Giannola sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total value of $487,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,424 shares in the company, valued at $1,374,488.64. The trade was a 26.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.20. 96,481 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,291. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.66. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $25.49. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $234.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 358.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

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.