Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 17,782 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 282,898 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,782 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.22% of Provident Financial Services worth $5,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 39.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,883,000 after acquiring an additional 90,238 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 980,654 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $18,505,000 after acquiring an additional 184,799 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,825,993 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $34,456,000 after acquiring an additional 33,201 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $513,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,026,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.50. The company had a trading volume of 583,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,578. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $16.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.40. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 0.84.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. The company's revenue was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.25.

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.