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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PFS shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on 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 began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Remove Ads

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,605,199 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $275,600,000 after buying an additional 51,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,947,394 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $54,715,000 after purchasing an additional 53,943 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1,787.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,533,618 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $47,809,000 after buying an additional 2,399,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,456,401 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $46,352,000 after buying an additional 81,617 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE PFS traded up $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $18.27. The stock had a trading volume of 918,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,943. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $13.07 and a 12-month high of $22.24. The business's 50-day moving average price is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.43%.

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.