Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 5,356 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,738,784 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 5,356 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 5.93% of Provident Financial Services worth $146,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 90,238 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 55.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 795,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,771,000 after buying an additional 283,879 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $5,026,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PFS. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $16.87 on Friday. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.07 and a 52-week high of $22.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.60.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. On average, analysts expect that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 91.43%.

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.