Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,878 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 3,714 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $1,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $142,605,000 after purchasing an additional 713,688 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,947,394 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,715,000 after purchasing an additional 53,943 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1,787.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,533,618 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $47,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399,351 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,888,623 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $35,053,000 after purchasing an additional 198,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 13,182.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,633 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS opened at $17.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.41 and a 200-day moving average of $19.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. As a group, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.43%.

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.