Sound Income Strategies LLC Sells 42,942 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Sound Income Strategies LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 594,850 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 42,942 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $11,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,359,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 576,673 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,308,774 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,513,000 after purchasing an additional 664,021 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,096,733 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $21,145,000 after purchasing an additional 279,216 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2,957.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 787,172 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,547,000 after purchasing an additional 761,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 724,976 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,978,000 after purchasing an additional 150,310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $21.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.30. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $14.34 and a twelve month high of $23.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.81.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, January 26th that allows the company to buyback $2.81 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the savings and loans company to repurchase up to 0.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 43.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $24.08.

About Provident Financial Services

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.