Brokerages Set Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Target Price at $23.90

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.90.

PFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 target price on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,333 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,888 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 45.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 1.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,730 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.7% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 37,828 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 1.4%

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $20.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $23.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.16.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 21.06%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, January 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.81 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to purchase up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 43.05%.

About Provident Financial Services

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.