State Street Corp Has $142.61 Million Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 713,688 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 0.06% of Provident Financial Services worth $142,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,913 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 2,591 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,021 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 8,378 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,722,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 65,700 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 28,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.3 %

PFS stock opened at $20.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.81. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The business had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This trade represents a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on PFS shares. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

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.