Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 1,827 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,626 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 1,827 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,990,000. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the third quarter worth $766,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Provident Financial Services by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 222,849 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 61,179 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,613,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,356 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,232,000 after acquiring an additional 251,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PFS. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock opened at $21.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.44. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.07 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) 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 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 last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Provident Financial Services 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.