Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $613,000 Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd invested $613,000 in Provident Financial Services, acquiring 35,674 shares in the first quarter.
• Provident Financial Services recently reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating estimates, with revenue of $214.17 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24, representing a 5.04% yield, with a payout ratio of 54.24%.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 35,674 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 193.8% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 805.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,530 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $19.29. 725,923 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 667,776. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $17.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.86.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $213.39 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 601,050 shares in the company, valued at $10,259,923.50. The trade was a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Provident Financial Services

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.