Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,008 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,895 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Provident Financial Services worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PFS. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 991.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 43.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS opened at $18.82 on Thursday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.07 and a 12-month high of $19.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.04.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The savings and loans company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.39). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 9.38%. The firm had revenue of $141.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Provident Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,603,787.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

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.