UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Cuts Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 213,608 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 22,332 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $5,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,333 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,888 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 19,782 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 25,075 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,771 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFS. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $26.50 to $28.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:PFS opened at $23.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.70. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $25.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.77.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.15%.The business had revenue of $234.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 20,000 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total value of $487,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,374,488.64. The trade was a 26.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Shara sold 40,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total transaction of $928,533.96. Following the sale, the director owned 382,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,829,927.66. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,204. 3.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Provident Financial Services Profile

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.