MQS Management LLC Invests $241,000 in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,787 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 51.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $111,740,000 after buying an additional 2,649,643 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $56,877,000 after acquiring an additional 3,904,975 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,550,462 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,599,000 after acquiring an additional 225,839 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,885,897 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,003,000 after purchasing an additional 34,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 56.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 582,844 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 owns 88,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

PFS stock opened at $18.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.12 and a 200-day moving average of $15.84. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.07 and a 12-month high of $19.59.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $141.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.60 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.38% and a return on equity of 4.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 60.00%.

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.