Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson raised Provident Financial Services from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $15.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.07. Provident Financial Services has a 1 year low of $13.21 and a 1 year high of $19.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.66.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 60.00%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,419,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $5,873,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 334.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 103,938 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 80,018 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,261,425 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,577,000 after acquiring an additional 68,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 889,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,605,000 after purchasing an additional 60,765 shares during the last quarter. 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.