Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,082 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 6,719 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $268,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,026,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 55.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 795,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,771,000 after acquiring an additional 283,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.6% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS opened at $19.43 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.85. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the business’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 value of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.