Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 28,561 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 614,795 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 28,561 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Provident Financial Services worth $11,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $56,877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,904,975 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $111,740,000 after buying an additional 2,649,643 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 13,182.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,421,000 after buying an additional 1,840,633 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 125.3% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,254,000 after buying an additional 939,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 10.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $142,605,000 after acquiring an additional 713,688 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PFS shares. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This trade represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock opened at $18.87 on Monday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.18 and a 200-day moving average of $18.28.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

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.