Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 18,123 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.
Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,447,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $7,225,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $6,994,000. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 240,522 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,105,103 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $20,853,000 after acquiring an additional 212,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
PFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $23.60.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on PFS
Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.3%
Shares of PFS stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,181. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $17.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1-year low of $14.34 and a 1-year high of $22.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 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. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $208.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.
Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement
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 $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is 86.49%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services
In related news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.
About Provident Financial Services
(
Free Report)
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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