Wolverine Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 50.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,684 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 35,515 shares during the quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $56,877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,904,975 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 51.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $111,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,643 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 125.3% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,254,000 after buying an additional 939,951 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 56.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,612,246 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,136,000 after buying an additional 582,844 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,990,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.67.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $21.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.07 and a 1-year high of $22.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total value of $99,476.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,656 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,787.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.