Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $25.49 and last traded at $25.24, with a volume of 1257554 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.79.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 directly owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,468.80. The trade was a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 998,562 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,606,000 after acquiring an additional 64,251 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 57.0% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 25,420 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 9,224 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 23.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 624,648 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,218,000 after purchasing an additional 118,432 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 9.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 329,212 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,967,000 after purchasing an additional 27,883 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.