Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 0.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 0.11% of Provident Financial Services worth $155,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 334.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 103,938 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 80,018 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 71,543 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,419,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.1% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. DA Davidson raised Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $14.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $19.62. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued 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.