SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New $428,000 Investment in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 24,912 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1,787.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,533,618 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $47,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399,351 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $17,447,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $7,225,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,994,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 878,493 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $16,577,000 after buying an additional 240,522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 601,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,259,923.50. This represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $23.60.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,659,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,136. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $13.79 and a 1-year high of $22.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.86.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million for 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%. The firm's revenue was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.49%.

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.