Provident Financial Services’ (PFS) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $28.00 price target on the savings and loans company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $26.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on PFS. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson set a $26.00 price objective on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Hovde Group raised their price target on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock opened at $25.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.45 and a 200-day moving average of $22.41. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $17.69 and a 12-month high of $25.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.The business had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 109,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. The trade was a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $170,775,000 after purchasing an additional 256,540 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 41,961 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 5.5% during 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 buying an additional 351,889 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,578,302 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,171,000 after buying an additional 216,567 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,483,000 after buying an additional 342,301 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is 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.