Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS - Free Report) by 13,182.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,840,633 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.42% of Provident Financial Services worth $34,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFS. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,904,975 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $111,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,649,643 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 125.3% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 939,951 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $142,605,000 after purchasing an additional 713,688 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 582,844 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company's stock.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.28. 120,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 853,930. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.06. 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 twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.81.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The firm 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Provident Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 note on Thursday, August 15th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.