South Dakota Investment Council Invests $825,000 in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 39,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFS. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,209,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the first quarter worth about $2,868,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $1,225,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 896,079 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,698,000 after buying an additional 171,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $170,775,000 after buying an additional 256,540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

More Provident Financial Services News

Here are the key news stories impacting Provident Financial Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets raised: Piper Sandler reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and lifted its price target from $26 to $29, implying approximately 17.6% upside from the referenced price. Hovde Group also raised its target from $26.50 to $28.50 and upgraded PFS to “outperform.” These revisions indicate stronger analyst confidence in the bank’s earnings outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings beat estimates: PFS reported earnings of $0.60 per share, exceeding the $0.56 consensus estimate and rising from $0.55 a year earlier. Revenue reached approximately $235 million, also above expectations. Provident Financial Services Q2 Earnings, Revenue Rise
• Positive Sentiment: Improving banking fundamentals: Net interest income increased to $202.7 million, while net interest margin expanded to 3.48% from 3.40% in the prior quarter and 3.36% a year earlier. Non-interest income also grew year over year, supported by wealth-management and insurance-agency revenue. Deposits and total assets increased from year-end 2025.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend maintained: The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share, equal to $0.96 annually and an indicated yield of about 3.9%. The dividend is payable August 28 to shareholders of record August 14. Provident Financial Services Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: PFS trades at roughly 10 times earnings, which may support the view that the shares remain reasonably valued following the earnings beat and analyst upgrades.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider activity was limited to sales, with three insiders selling shares during the past six months and no reported purchases. This may modestly temper otherwise positive sentiment, although the transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s outlook.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on PFS shares. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

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

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $24.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.78. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1 year low of $17.61 and a 1 year high of $25.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.28.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 11.00%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

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.