Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 2,227 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,293 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 2,227 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Provident Financial Services worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 889,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,605,000 after buying an additional 60,765 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 76.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 109,041 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after buying an additional 47,217 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $573,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Provident Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 3.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,261,425 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,577,000 after purchasing an additional 68,856 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson raised Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:PFS opened at $14.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.21 and a 1-year high of $19.62.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

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.