Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PFS traded up $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $18.55. 435,688 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 491,078. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.08. Provident Financial Services has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released 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 firm 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 business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 51.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $111,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,643 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $142,605,000 after buying an additional 713,688 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $56,877,000 after buying an additional 3,904,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,947,394 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $54,715,000 after buying an additional 53,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 9.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,550,462 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,599,000 after acquiring an additional 225,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.