Mendon Capital Advisors Corp Has $5.15 Million Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Key Points

• Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 50% during Q1, acquiring an additional 100,000 shares, resulting in a total of 300,000 shares owned.
• Provident Financial Services recently reported earnings of $0.55 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.50, with a revenue of $214.17 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, representing an annualized rate of $0.96 and a dividend yield of 4.9%.

Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 50.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 300,000 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Provident Financial Services accounts for about 2.5% of Mendon Capital Advisors Corp's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp owned about 0.23% of Provident Financial Services worth $5,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 193.8% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $156,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PFS traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.85. The company had a trading volume of 470,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,226. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.56.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.39 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 16.97%.During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFS. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $497,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,228.37. The trade was a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

About Provident Financial Services

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.