Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Upgraded to “Buy” at DA Davidson

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) was upgraded by equities researchers at DA Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $20.00 price objective on the savings and loans company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $15.00. DA Davidson’s target price suggests a potential upside of 38.31% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of 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. TheStreet lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.75.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $14.46 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.21 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.66.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 132.8% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,867 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 2,130 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.