ELCO Management Co. LLC Has $670,000 Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS)

ELCO Management Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 29.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,048 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 16,466 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC's holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,605,199 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $275,600,000 after buying an additional 51,253 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,456,401 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $46,352,000 after buying an additional 81,617 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,976,235 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $37,292,000 after buying an additional 87,612 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,825,993 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $34,456,000 after buying an additional 33,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,692,001 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $31,928,000 after buying an additional 109,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated 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 objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $23.60.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

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

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:PFS traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.55. The stock had a trading volume of 787,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,111. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $17.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.48. 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 issued its 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 business had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.86 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 6.38%. Provident Financial Services's revenue was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.18%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.49%.

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.