Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the four analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.00.

PFS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, DA Davidson raised Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE PFS opened at $15.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Provident Financial Services has a 1-year low of $13.21 and a 1-year high of $19.62.

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

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EJF Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 112,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 20,012 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $149,000. Caxton Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 82,131 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 11,477 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $184,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,927 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,645 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.