Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Earns Outperform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $28.00 price objective on the savings and loans company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $26.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 11.44% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:PFS traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $25.12. The stock had a trading volume of 309,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 988,000. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.78. Provident Financial Services has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $25.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In related news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,359,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 576,673 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,483,000 after buying an additional 342,301 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 251.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 413,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,242,000 after buying an additional 295,521 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $170,775,000 after buying an additional 256,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 493.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 301,329 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,951,000 after buying an additional 250,566 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

About Provident Financial Services

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.