Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Has $2.16 Million Stock Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lowered its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,389 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 10,606 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $2,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 193.8% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,123 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 25,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 6.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,792,792 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $33,274,000 after buying an additional 102,737 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 5.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 68,346 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 3.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 29,402 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 136.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 65,282 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 37,719 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PFS. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $17.40 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.98. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. On average, analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.43%.

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.