Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 3,370 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,110 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 3,370 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.11% of Provident Financial Services worth $2,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 991.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 1,779.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,876 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 7,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the first quarter valued at about $149,000. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $21.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.37. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $349.38 million during 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

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.