StockNews.com Upgrades Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

PFS has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:PFS opened at $21.12 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.52. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFS. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $56,877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,904,975 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $111,740,000 after buying an additional 2,649,643 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 13,182.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840,633 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 125.3% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,254,000 after acquiring an additional 939,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $142,605,000 after acquiring an additional 713,688 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.