Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Receives $24.79 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.7857.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFS. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stephens started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $23.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $17.61 and a 12-month high of $24.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.88.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.06. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 10.98%. The company had revenue of $225.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,468.80. The trade was a 2.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PFS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $170,775,000 after purchasing an additional 256,540 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,046,392 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $139,166,000 after buying an additional 41,961 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,710,987 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $132,542,000 after buying an additional 351,889 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,578,302 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,171,000 after acquiring an additional 216,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,483,000 after acquiring an additional 342,301 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.