Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Stock Holdings Raised by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital increased its PFS stake by 82% in the first quarter, buying 153,698 additional shares for a total of 341,162 shares valued at approximately $7.2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own about 72% of the company.
• Provident Financial Services beat second-quarter earnings expectations, reporting $0.60 in EPS versus the $0.56 consensus and revenue of roughly $235 million. Net interest income and net interest margin also improved, signaling stronger banking fundamentals.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive and the dividend was maintained: multiple firms raised their price targets, with the consensus target at $26.50 versus a recent share price near $24.65. PFS declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 3.9%.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 82.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 341,162 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 153,698 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.26% of Provident Financial Services worth $7,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.0% during 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 buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,888 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 19,782 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Provident Financial Services

Here are the key news stories impacting Provident Financial Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets raised: Piper Sandler reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and lifted its price target from $26 to $29, implying approximately 17.6% upside from the referenced price. Hovde Group also raised its target from $26.50 to $28.50 and upgraded PFS to “outperform.” These revisions indicate stronger analyst confidence in the bank’s earnings outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings beat estimates: PFS reported earnings of $0.60 per share, exceeding the $0.56 consensus estimate and rising from $0.55 a year earlier. Revenue reached approximately $235 million, also above expectations. Provident Financial Services Q2 Earnings, Revenue Rise
• Positive Sentiment: Improving banking fundamentals: Net interest income increased to $202.7 million, while net interest margin expanded to 3.48% from 3.40% in the prior quarter and 3.36% a year earlier. Non-interest income also grew year over year, supported by wealth-management and insurance-agency revenue. Deposits and total assets increased from year-end 2025.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend maintained: The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share, equal to $0.96 annually and an indicated yield of about 3.9%. The dividend is payable August 28 to shareholders of record August 14. Provident Financial Services Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: PFS trades at roughly 10 times earnings, which may support the view that the shares remain reasonably valued following the earnings beat and analyst upgrades.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider activity was limited to sales, with three insiders selling shares during the past six months and no reported purchases. This may modestly temper otherwise positive sentiment, although the transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s outlook.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In related news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,468.80. This trade represents a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. Stephens initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.50.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $24.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $25.41. The business's fifty day moving average price is $23.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

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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