Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 16,941 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 649,485 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,941 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Provident Financial Services worth $11,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.0% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 72,088 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 14,240 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,172 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 191,748 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $3,618,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,764 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,259,923.50. The trade was a 8.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.60.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.18. 638,230 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 690,557. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.86. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $206.86 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 6.38%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.28%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 86.49%.

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.