Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Shares Down 4.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)’s share price was down 4.4% on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $19.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Provident Financial Services traded as low as $14.19 and last traded at $14.26. Approximately 231,190 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 615,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.

PFS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.67.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 132.8% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,867 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 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 data on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $114.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.30 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 18.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.14%.

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.