Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,281 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 805.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,530 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.25.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PFS opened at $17.13 on Friday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.84.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.86 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. Provident Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.49%.

Provident Financial Services 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.