DA Davidson Lowers Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Price Target to $15.00

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) had its price objective cut by analysts at DA Davidson from $17.00 to $15.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.09% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PFS traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $14.41. The company had a trading volume of 181,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,454. Provident Financial Services has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $19.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released 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 firm had revenue of $114.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.2% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,947 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 35.7% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.9% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,217 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,237 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 8.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,528 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.