Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

by · The Markets Daily

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFSGet Free Report) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 6.5%

PFS opened at $22.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Provident Financial Services has a one year low of $14.34 and a one year high of $22.46. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.40.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, CEO George Lista sold 8,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $151,607.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,656 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,837.60. This represents a 7.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,359,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $122,603,000 after acquiring an additional 576,673 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 26.2% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 724,976 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,978,000 after purchasing an additional 150,310 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 11.1% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 575,197 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $11,090,000 after purchasing an additional 57,293 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 445,449 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,809,000 after purchasing an additional 31,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 416,203 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,296,000 after purchasing an additional 13,523 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson cut Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

View Our Latest Analysis on PFS

Provident Financial Services News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Provident Financial Services this week:

Provident Financial Services declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, January 26th that allows the company to buyback $2.81 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the savings and loans company to purchase up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

(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.

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