Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,996 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 9,000 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. owned about 0.13% of Provident Financial Services worth $3,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter valued at about $6,990,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 39,737 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 16,800 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $186,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 63.0% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 19,578 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In related news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 2.3 %

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $19.00 on Thursday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.07 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 1.08.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its 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). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The company had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

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.