Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.65 Million Stock Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 708,117 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 46,338 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.54% of Provident Financial Services worth $13,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,545,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 251.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 295,521 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the second quarter worth $4,377,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 247.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 312,478 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,365,000 after buying an additional 222,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 81.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 359,385 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,300,000 after buying an additional 161,011 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $23.42 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.70. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week high of $23.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted 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 net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $225.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.