Royce & Associates LP Acquires Shares of 41,284 Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 41,284 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PFS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $20.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.22. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.07 and a 52-week high of $22.23. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

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.