Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Now Covered by Analysts at Hovde Group

Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $25.00 price objective on the savings and loans company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PFS opened at $20.38 on Friday. Provident Financial Services has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In related news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFS. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,947,394 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,715,000 after acquiring an additional 53,943 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 39.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after acquiring an additional 90,238 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 120.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,500 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $245,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently 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.