iSAM Funds UK Ltd Boosts Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,816 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares during the quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 39.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 90,238 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,026,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,387 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 105.8% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,581 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 13,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $17.30 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.84.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. The business had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 82.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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 reduced their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.25.

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.