Jane Street Group LLC Purchases 35,579 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 65.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,929 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,579 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.07% of Provident Financial Services worth $1,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFS. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 90,238 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,026,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 170,000 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $3,208,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 3.0%

PFS traded down $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.80. 593,682 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,954. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $16.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. The company had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.49%.

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.