Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $558,000 Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,474 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 805.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $16.42 on Monday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.07 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.54 and its 200-day moving average is $17.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 86.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 601,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,259,923.50. This represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

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.