182,097 Shares in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Purchased by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 182,097 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,613,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFS. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 66,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 43.0% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.9% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 43,930 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 991.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 2.1 %

PFS stock opened at $18.28 on Friday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $19.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.58.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The savings and loans company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.39). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.38% and a return on equity of 4.95%. The company had revenue of $141.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction of $99,476.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com cut Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.67.

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.