18,779 Shares in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Bought by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 18,779 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PFS. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,500 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 141.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,533 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 4,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 35,936.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,928 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 7,906 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PFS. Hovde Group began coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This trade represents a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $17.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.15. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.58%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.43%.

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.