Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Key Points

• Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired an additional 58,462 shares of Provident Financial Services, increasing its holdings by 14.8% to a total of 452,258 shares, valued at approximately $7.77 million.
• Provident Financial Services recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding 4.8%, with a payout ratio of 54.24%.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Provident Financial Services, with DA Davidson increasing its target from $22.00 to $24.00, suggesting a strong outlook for the stock.

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 452,258 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,462 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned about 0.35% of Provident Financial Services worth $7,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.3% in the first quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC now owns 49,643 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.0% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 72,088 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.8% in the first quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 50,025 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PFS traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $19.88. 437,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 647,530. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week high of $22.24. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $213.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 54.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,259,923.50. This represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.