Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.0833.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PFS. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price target on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $21.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $14.34 and a 12-month high of $23.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.29.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 21.06%.The firm had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Provident Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 43.05%.

Provident Financial Services declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, January 26th that permits the company to buyback $2.81 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,106 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 74,926 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,277 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 256,739 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 15,112 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 247.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 312,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,365,000 after purchasing an additional 222,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 45.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,261 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 22,961 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 is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.