MRA Advisory Group Takes $538,000 Position in 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 acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 30,717 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 65.5% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,929 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 35,579 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 101,830 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 21,993 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,649 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 939,304 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $17,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $497,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $59,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price 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 lifted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock 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 issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of PFS stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.92. 365,546 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,884. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $19.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.61. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million during 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 previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

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.