MRA Advisory Group Acquires Shares of 30,717 Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Key Points

• MRA Advisory Group acquired 30,717 shares of Provident Financial Services, valued at approximately $538,000, as part of their new investment position during the second quarter.
• Provident Financial Services reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.55 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.05, with a revenue of $214.17 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, representing an annualized yield of 4.8%, with a payout ratio of 54.24%.

MRA Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,717 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 84.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,207,898 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $55,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,432 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,584,298 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $44,372,000 after purchasing an additional 127,897 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth $17,412,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 939,304 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $17,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,445 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 649,485 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $11,152,000 after purchasing an additional 16,941 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PFS shares. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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 note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $19.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.94. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week high of $22.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $18.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.55. 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 (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $213.39 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $497,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,228.37. This represents a 22.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.