Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,489 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 392,045 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 1,489 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $5,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1,728.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,333 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,932 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $253,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,643 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.41. 146,809 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 928,722. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.41. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.07 and a 1-year high of $19.62.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

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.