Invesco Ltd. Decreases Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Invesco Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 805,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 72,600 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $13,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 649,485 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $11,152,000 after buying an additional 16,941 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 101,830 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 21,993 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the first quarter worth approximately $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE PFS opened at $19.7680 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.44.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $214.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $213.39 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 16.97%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on 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. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the sale, the chairman owned 601,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,259,923.50. The trade was a 8.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

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.