Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Stock Price

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 23.79% from the company’s current price.

PFS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

PFS opened at $18.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.54 and a 200 day moving average of $19.03. Provident Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.79% and a net margin of 10.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 13,182.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,633 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $142,605,000 after buying an additional 713,688 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 87.3% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 892,708 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $16,569,000 after purchasing an additional 416,020 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,564,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 795,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,771,000 after acquiring an additional 283,879 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.