Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 761,427 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 2,957.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 787,172 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 761,427 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.60% of Provident Financial Services worth $15,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,730 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.7% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 37,828 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 7.3% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,073 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 40.9% during the third 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 last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PFS shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.08.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $20.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 0.86. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $14.34 and a 1-year high of $23.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 43.05%.

Provident Financial Services announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.