Invesco Ltd. Acquires 240,522 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 878,493 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 240,522 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.67% of Provident Financial Services worth $16,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $99,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 141.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,533 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 4,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 35,936.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,928 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 7,906 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of 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 raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 1.6 %

PFS opened at $15.48 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.95 and a 200-day moving average of $18.66. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $22.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.