Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,632,382 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.42% of Provident Financial Services worth $155,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $532,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 33.6% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 116,376 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 29,250 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 3.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,261,425 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,577,000 after purchasing an additional 68,856 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1,728.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,333 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 6,932 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $14.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.41. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Provident Financial Services’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.00%.

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.