Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Purchases New Shares in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 48,998 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $925,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFS. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 805.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 3,530 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares in 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PFS traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 363,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,812. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.84. 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 50 day simple moving average of $16.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 86.49%.

Provident Financial Services 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.