Alps Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 23,010 Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 23,010 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,545,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 251.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 413,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,242,000 after acquiring an additional 295,521 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,377,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 247.5% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 312,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,365,000 after purchasing an additional 222,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 359,385 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,300,000 after purchasing an additional 161,011 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $22.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.86. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52-week low of $14.34 and a 52-week high of $23.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 21.06%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.05%.

Provident Financial Services announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, January 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.81 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price objective on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.70.

Provident Financial Services Profile

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.