Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Shares Acquired by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,402,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 22,986 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.07% of Provident Financial Services worth $24,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $242,000. EJF Capital LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 221,335 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,800,000 after acquiring an additional 74,327 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at $311,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 452,258 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,765,000 after acquiring an additional 58,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 30.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research cut Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 1.1%

PFS stock opened at $18.54 on Friday. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52-week low of $14.34 and a 52-week high of $22.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.36.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $114.54 million during the quarter. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, CEO George Lista sold 8,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $151,607.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,656 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,837.60. This trade represents a 7.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $59,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,633 shares in the company, valued at $788,696.70. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 36,262 shares of company stock valued at $709,058 in the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Provident Financial Services 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.