24,792 Shares in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) Purchased by Private Advisor Group LLC

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC acquired 24,792 shares of Provident Financial Services for about $426,000 in the first quarter, marking a significant investment in the bank holding company.
• Analysts have mixed views on Provident Financial Services, with target prices ranging from $21.00 to $24.00, and a consensus rating of "Buy."
• Provident Financial Services announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding 5.21%, with the next payout scheduled for August 29th.

Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,792 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 193.8% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 805.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 3,530 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the company'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 transaction of $950,252.76. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,259,923.50. This represents a 8.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial assumed 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.00. 722,850 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 666,113. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12-month low of $14.34 and a 12-month high of $22.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.48. 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 company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.86.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.