James A. Christy Sells 3,500 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Stock

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.2 %

PFS opened at $20.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.06. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 5.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 16,672 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,500 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 29,402 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 43.0% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 6.5% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 20,616 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.