Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Receives $24.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

PFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Hovde Group started 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 target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 1.3 %

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $19.10 on Friday. 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 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. Research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 91.43%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. This trade represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFS. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1,787.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,533,618 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $47,809,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399,351 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 13,182.2% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $142,605,000 after purchasing an additional 713,688 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 87.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,564,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.