Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $24.07 and last traded at $23.9630, with a volume of 109915 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFS has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.79.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $225.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.62 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 10.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.85%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 109,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,447,468.80. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $170,775,000 after acquiring an additional 256,540 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,046,392 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $139,166,000 after acquiring an additional 41,961 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,710,987 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $132,542,000 after acquiring an additional 351,889 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,308,774 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,513,000 after purchasing an additional 664,021 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,578,302 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $31,171,000 after purchasing an additional 216,567 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.