Sei Investments Co. Boosts Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 80.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 54,255 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,223 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.0% during the third 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 buying an additional 576,673 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,483,000 after acquiring an additional 342,301 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 251.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 413,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,242,000 after acquiring an additional 295,521 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 3.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $170,775,000 after acquiring an additional 256,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 493.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 301,329 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,951,000 after acquiring an additional 250,566 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on PFS shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. DA Davidson set a $26.00 target price on Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PFS opened at $24.81 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.55. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a twelve month low of $17.69 and a twelve month high of $25.49.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $232.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 11.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.