Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 253,566 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 90.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,057 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 253,566 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 56.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,612,246 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,136,000 after acquiring an additional 582,844 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $9,419,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 64.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,356 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,232,000 after purchasing an additional 251,311 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 68.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 407,581 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,849,000 after purchasing an additional 165,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $1,927,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.67.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Provident Financial Services stock opened at $18.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.07 and a 1 year high of $19.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.87.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $141.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.60 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.38% and a return on equity of 4.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.