Key Points
- Provident Financial Services EVP Vito Giannola sold 20,000 shares at an average price of $24.36, generating $487,200. The sale reduced his direct ownership by 26.17% to 56,424 shares.
- Provident reported quarterly EPS of $0.60, exceeding the $0.56 consensus estimate, while revenue of $234.96 million also surpassed expectations. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, equivalent to a 4.1% yield.
- Analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on PFS, with an average price target of $26.79 versus the reported opening price of $23.70; institutional investors own approximately 71.97% of the stock.
Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) EVP Vito Giannola sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total transaction of $487,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,374,488.64. This trade represents a 26.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.
Provident Financial Services Price Performance
Shares of PFS stock opened at $23.70 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $23.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52-week low of $17.69 and a 52-week high of $25.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.78.
Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 11.00%. The company had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $225.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.
Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is presently 40.00%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts recently weighed in on PFS shares. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.79.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Provident Financial Services
Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 358.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Provident Financial Services
(
Get Free Report)
Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.
Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
