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

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

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS opened at $13.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.78 and its 200-day moving average is $15.65. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.22 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The firm 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 quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid 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 6.98%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.14%.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,217,716 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $160,245,000 after buying an additional 124,787 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 3.4% in 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 buying an additional 132,482 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $25,110,000 after purchasing an additional 403,067 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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, 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.