Analysts Set Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Target Price at $23.00

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PFS shares. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $56,877,000 after acquiring an additional 3,904,975 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $111,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,643 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 13,182.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,633 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 125.3% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,254,000 after purchasing an additional 939,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 10.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $142,605,000 after buying an additional 713,688 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $18.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.99. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.06.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.31%.

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.