Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Announces Earnings Results

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 Provident Financial Services stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $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 cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.76 and a 200-day moving average of $18.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PFS shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.29% 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.