The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,272 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 2,074 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Provident Financial Services worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 805.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,530 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $17.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.43.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.86 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 86.49%.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.