Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires Shares of 23,411 Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 23,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $56,877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,904,975 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 51.6% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 2,649,643 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 125.3% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,254,000 after acquiring an additional 939,951 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $23,136,000 after acquiring an additional 582,844 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,990,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PFS. StockNews.com cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

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 transaction of $99,476.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,656 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,787.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of PFS opened at $18.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.07 and a 1 year high of $19.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The business had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.25 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

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.