Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 18.46%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $13.81 on Friday. Provident Financial Services has a 1 year low of $13.21 and a 1 year high of $19.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.78 and its 200 day moving average is $15.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.95%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 56.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,351,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $265,617,000 after buying an additional 70,302 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,217,716 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $160,245,000 after purchasing an additional 124,787 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,086,247 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $66,769,000 after purchasing an additional 132,482 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,461,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 45,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,073,084 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $25,110,000 after purchasing an additional 403,067 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

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.