Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Bought by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 87.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 892,708 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 416,020 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 0.68% of Provident Financial Services worth $16,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 991.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 43.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 1,779.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,876 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 7,457 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $187,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $163,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Provident Financial Services from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of PFS traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $21.14. The company had a trading volume of 177,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,274. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $19.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.52.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is 92.31%.

Provident Financial Services Profile

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.