Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Provident Financial Services by 3.3%, selling 60,353 shares, while its remaining ownership is valued at approximately $30.3 million.
• Insider selling was noted with Chairman Christopher P. Martin offloading 55,668 shares at an average price of $17.07, decreasing his ownership in the process.
• Provident Financial Services announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 5.1%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,765,640 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 60,353 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.35% of Provident Financial Services worth $30,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 54.9% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 19,590 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 6,940 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $613,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of 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. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 5.1%

PFS traded up $0.9680 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.7680. 822,806 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 591,401. 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, Inc has a 1 year low of $14.34 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $214.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $950,252.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares in the company, valued at $10,259,923.50. The trade was a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.