Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Holdings Decreased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,659 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 51,914 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Provident Financial Services worth $2,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 38,035 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,664 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 24,871 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $296,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 939,304 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,649 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PFS opened at $17.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 0.84. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.07 and a 1-year high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.86 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. Provident Financial Services’s revenue was up 82.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.53%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.49%.

About Provident Financial Services

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.