Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Stock Position Trimmed by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,982 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 132.8% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,867 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. First Manhattan Co. raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 2,130 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 48.7% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on PFS shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE PFS opened at $13.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.67. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.22 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.04). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 18.46%. The business had revenue of $114.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.14%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.