Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 17,000 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 72.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,353 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 17,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 39.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $5,883,000 after acquiring an additional 90,238 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,530 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 795,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $14,771,000 after buying an additional 283,879 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,026,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. 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 report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 2.1 %

PFS traded up $0.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.72. The company had a trading volume of 708,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,810. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.55. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92 and a beta of 0.84.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $206.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given 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 dividend yield of 5.74%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is 86.49%.

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.