Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Acquires Shares of 924,598 Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 924,598 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $17,447,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC owned 0.71% of Provident Financial Services as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $999,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 101,830 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 21,993 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,457 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 282,898 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,338,000 after acquiring an additional 17,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 393,796 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $7,431,000 after purchasing an additional 12,671 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.89. The company had a trading volume of 415,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 0.84. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company's 50-day moving average is $16.52 and its 200-day moving average is $18.41.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $206.86 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is 86.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Company 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.