Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS Shares Purchased by Mendon Capital Advisors Corp

Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 50.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 300,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Provident Financial Services comprises about 2.5% of Mendon Capital Advisors Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $5,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 193.8% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Provident Financial Services by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $156,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 0.8%

PFS stock opened at $19.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.51. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a one year low of $14.34 and a one year high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $214.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

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.