Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 40,000 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,000 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 40,000 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 14,240 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $7,225,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 980,654 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $18,505,000 after acquiring an additional 184,799 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,605,199 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $275,600,000 after acquiring an additional 51,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 43,570 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 18,751 shares during the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Provident Financial Services Trading Down 4.6 %

PFS stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.27. The company had a trading volume of 133,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 839,091. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.91 and a 200 day moving average of $18.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 1.06.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. On average, equities analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 91.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Hovde Group started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Company 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.