American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,308,774 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 664,021 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.77% of Provident Financial Services worth $44,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.3% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,073 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,100 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,096,733 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $21,145,000 after acquiring an additional 279,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $69,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock opened at $20.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.15. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $23.98.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Provident Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

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

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price target on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.90.

Provident Financial Services Company 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.