Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 64,026 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 509,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 64,026 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.39% of Provident Financial Services worth $9,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,069,463 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $53,815,000 after acquiring an additional 41,758 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.6% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,978,498 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,683,000 after purchasing an additional 11,647 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,402,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,585,000 after purchasing an additional 22,986 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 17.1% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 637,792 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,265,000 after purchasing an additional 93,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $10,545,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lowered Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.70.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:PFS opened at $22.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.86. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $23.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.08 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, January 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.81 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 43.05%.

Provident Financial Services Profile

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.