Mendon Capital Advisors Corp Has $5.15 Million Stock Holdings 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 lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure 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 2.5% of Mendon Capital Advisors Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp owned about 0.23% of Provident Financial Services worth $5,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 193.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 30.0% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $156,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $178,000. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,228.37. This trade represents a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $59,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE PFS traded down $0.19 on Monday, reaching $19.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 140,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 641,245. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50 day moving average is $18.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.55.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $213.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.24%.

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.