Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 63,606 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly reduced its stake in Provident Financial Services by selling 63,606 shares, resulting in ownership of only 16,952 shares as of its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have a positive outlook on Provident Financial Services, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $22.70, reflecting optimism about the company's performance.
• The company recently declared a $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 4.9%, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 79.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,952 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 63,606 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 84.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,207,898 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $55,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,432 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,584,298 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $44,372,000 after acquiring an additional 127,897 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,412,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 649,485 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $11,152,000 after acquiring an additional 16,941 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $7,765,000 after acquiring an additional 58,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Hovde Group raised their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.3%

PFS stock opened at $19.59 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.72. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $14.34 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 16.97%.The firm had revenue of $214.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $213.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. Analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $497,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,228.37. The trade was a 22.14% 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.

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.

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