Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,262 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 632 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Provident Financial Services worth $1,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,351,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $265,617,000 after buying an additional 70,302 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,217,716 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $160,245,000 after buying an additional 124,787 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,579,685 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $108,805,000 after buying an additional 81,452 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,308,850 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $64,523,000 after buying an additional 52,539 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,073,084 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,110,000 after buying an additional 403,067 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $15.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $17.84 and its 200 day moving average is $20.82. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.54 and a 1 year high of $25.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $130.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.22 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 28.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In related news, CEO George Lista bought 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.62 per share, for a total transaction of $30,930.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 5,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,069.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 4,560 shares of company stock worth $83,653. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Provident Financial Services from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.25.

About Provident Financial Services

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Provident Financial Services, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individual and corporate customers in Northern and Central New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. The company was founded on January 15, 2003 and is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ.