Bank of Montreal Can Grows Stock Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,663 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 2,688 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after acquiring an additional 90,238 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 980,654 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $18,505,000 after purchasing an additional 184,799 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,825,993 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,456,000 after buying an additional 33,201 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $513,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,026,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE PFS opened at $16.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.84. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. Sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.87%. Provident Financial Services’s 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.