Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 309,493 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 49,892 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $5,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 201.2% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,730 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 42,796 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $300,000. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,241,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 1.1%

PFS stock opened at $23.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.62. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.86. 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, Inc has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week high of $23.97.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, January 26th that allows the company to repurchase $2.81 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.05%.

About Provident Financial Services

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.