Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 130,421 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 83.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 287,178 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 130,421 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $4,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 269.0% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 77,382 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 56,410 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the first quarter worth approximately $544,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 334.5% in 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 buying an additional 80,018 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $2,613,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,356 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,232,000 after acquiring an additional 251,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $18.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.04. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $19.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.92.

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

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued 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 5.30%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

Provident Financial Services 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.