Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Shares Bought by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 138.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 170,995 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 99,238 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $3,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 155.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,184 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 29,356 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 14.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 509,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,823,000 after purchasing an additional 64,026 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the third quarter valued at $444,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 40.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,308,774 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,513,000 after purchasing an additional 664,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 34.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,096,733 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $21,145,000 after purchasing an additional 279,216 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.02% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $21.83 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12-month low of $15.92 and a 12-month high of $23.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $225.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.62 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 21.95%.The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 40.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.92.

About Provident Financial Services

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.