11,312 Shares in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Acquired by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 11,312 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 633.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,040 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $156,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth about $178,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $18.88 on Friday. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week 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 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.39.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $114.54 million for the quarter. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 48.98%.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $497,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,750,228.37. This represents a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $59,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $788,696.70. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 36,262 shares of company stock valued at $709,058 in the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PFS shares. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson lowered Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

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.