Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 46,338 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 708,117 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 46,338 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $13,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 358.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 45.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 633.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,040 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the second quarter worth about $39,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

PFS opened at $23.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 1 year low of $14.34 and a 1 year high of $23.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.70.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 21.06%.The firm had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.08 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Provident Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is 43.05%.

Provident Financial Services declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, January 26th that allows the company to buyback $2.81 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 price objective on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.70.

Provident Financial Services 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.