Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 37,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 61,537 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 8,885 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 41.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,016 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 4,403 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 8.9% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the third quarter worth $681,000. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 50.0% during the third quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd now owns 49,914 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 16,638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PFS stock opened at $15.09 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 1.07. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.21 and a twelve month high of $19.62.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Provident Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.36%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio 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.