Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Sets New 52-Week Low at $13.21

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.21 and last traded at $14.25, with a volume of 114723 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 3.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.78 and its 200 day moving average is $15.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. 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 net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.73%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 56.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,947 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 35.7% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 5.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,217 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,237 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,988 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.