Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 5.2 %

PFS opened at $14.46 on Friday. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $13.21 and a twelve month high of $19.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given 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 6.64%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 60.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFS has been the topic of several research reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson decreased 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 note on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 note on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 650,642 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $11,731,000 after buying an additional 298,744 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 53,282 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 123,580 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,228,000 after buying an additional 11,118 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 187,520 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,382,000 after buying an additional 48,074 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $590,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.