Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded down 4.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $19.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Provident Financial Services traded as low as $14.19 and last traded at $14.26. 231,190 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 615,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.
Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.67.
Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services
In related news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total transaction of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 132.8% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,867 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.
Provident Financial Services Stock Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.82. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 1.07.
Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.04). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $114.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.
Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.14%.
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.