Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Shares Acquired by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 5,449 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.06% of Provident Financial Services worth $1,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 84.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,207,898 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $55,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,432 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $17,412,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 247.5% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 312,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,365,000 after purchasing an additional 222,549 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,584,298 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,372,000 after buying an additional 127,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 50.0% during the first quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,151,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $19.72 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $214.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $213.39 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 16.97%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $497,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,228.37. The trade was a 22.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $59,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.70.

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.