Truist Financial Corp Takes Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 112,030 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 244.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 28,900 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 20,500 shares in the last quarter. Newport Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $199,000. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 125.3% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,254,000 after purchasing an additional 939,951 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 68,208 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 12,499 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $178,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total value 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 $1,603,787.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $18.85 on Friday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.07 and a 1 year high of $19.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.14.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The savings and loans company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $141.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.24 dividend. 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 5.09%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.