Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Acquires New Holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 124,995 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $2,320,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned 0.10% of Provident Financial Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFS. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 80,745 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 7,905 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth about $76,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 71.1% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,891 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 13,253 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,927 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,645 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of PFS traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.40. The stock had a trading volume of 569,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 648,669. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58 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 (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.