Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Shares Sold by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Provident Financial Services by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, now owning 1.07% of the company valued at approximately $23.99 million.
• Analysts have a consensus target price of $22.70 for Provident Financial Services, with one "Strong Buy" and four "Buy" ratings issued by research analysts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 4.8%, with a dividend payout ratio of 54.24%.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,397,139 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 37,496 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.07% of Provident Financial Services worth $23,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 649,485 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $11,152,000 after acquiring an additional 16,941 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 27.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth about $242,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PFS shares. Hovde Group increased their price objective 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. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of Provident Financial Services 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 sale, the chairman owned 601,050 shares in the company, valued at $10,259,923.50. This trade represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE PFS opened at $19.86 on Monday. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a one year low of $14.34 and a one year high of $22.24. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.44. 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 $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.94.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.24%.

Provident Financial Services 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.

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