Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.25.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock opened at $16.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services has a 52-week low of $13.07 and a 52-week high of $19.16.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The savings and loans company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $141.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.60 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 9.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.71%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 60.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 66,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 3.9% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 43,930 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 991.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by 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.