Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 80,147 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 10.7% in the first quarter, buying an additional 80,147 shares and bringing its total holding to 827,266 shares worth about $17.5 million.
• Provident Financial Services reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $0.61 EPS versus estimates of $0.55, while revenue rose 7.9% year over year to $225.2 million.
• The stock has drawn mixed Wall Street sentiment but carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $24.79; it also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding about 4.0% annually.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 827,266 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 80,147 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.63% of Provident Financial Services worth $17,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,333 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,888 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 25,075 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,462 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,447,468.80. This trade represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Provident Financial Services from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stephens initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.79.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $24.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.10. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12-month low of $17.61 and a 12-month high of $24.56.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $225.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.62 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 10.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 40.85%.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.

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