Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) were up 4.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $14.31 and last traded at $14.31. Approximately 161,650 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 926,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson raised Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 5.2 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.02.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its 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. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 60.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 66,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.9% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 43,930 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.2% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 37,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

About Provident Financial Services

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.