Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13), Zacks reports. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PFS traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 765,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,794. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.08. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PFS. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.