Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 47,121 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,531,181 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 47,121 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $32,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,359,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $122,603,000 after buying an additional 576,673 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,483,000 after acquiring an additional 342,301 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 251.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 413,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,242,000 after acquiring an additional 295,521 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 493.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 301,329 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,951,000 after acquiring an additional 250,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 247.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 312,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,365,000 after acquiring an additional 222,549 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.02% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE PFS opened at $23.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $24.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.04 and a 200-day moving average of $22.15. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $225.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.62 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 21.95%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFS has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Stephens began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Provident Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

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.