Royce & Associates LP Takes $766,000 Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 41,284 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,787,088 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $111,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,649,643 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4,245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,996,954 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $56,877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,904,975 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 9.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,550,462 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $36,599,000 after purchasing an additional 225,839 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 125.3% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,690,155 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $24,254,000 after acquiring an additional 939,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 56.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,612,246 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $23,136,000 after buying an additional 582,844 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $20.70 on Thursday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $19.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Provident Financial Services from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.00.

About Provident Financial Services

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.