Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Sold by Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lessened its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 95.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,806 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 38,684 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 59.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 482,603 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,925,000 after acquiring an additional 179,987 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $863,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 83.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 287,178 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,121,000 after purchasing an additional 130,421 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,402 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 4,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 222,849 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after buying an additional 61,179 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 3.6 %

PFS stock opened at $17.89 on Wednesday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $19.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.99.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released 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). The company had revenue of $141.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.60 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 9.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total value of $99,476.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PFS shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. 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 report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

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.