Haverford Trust Co Buys New Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Haverford Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 10,071 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $111,740,000 after buying an additional 2,649,643 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $56,877,000 after buying an additional 3,904,975 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 9.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,550,462 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $36,599,000 after acquiring an additional 225,839 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 125.3% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,254,000 after acquiring an additional 939,951 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 56.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,612,246 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,136,000 after acquiring an additional 582,844 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction of $99,476.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. This trade represents a 5.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.67.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $21.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

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.