PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 4,789 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,543 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Provident Financial Services worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 1.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 157,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 24.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,751 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 4,274 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 889,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,605,000 after purchasing an additional 60,765 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.2% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 37,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 76.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 109,041 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 47,217 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $13.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.16 and a 12-month high of $19.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.59.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.12%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

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.