Wellington Management Group LLP Grows Stock Position in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 13,182.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,854,596 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,840,633 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.42% of Provident Financial Services worth $34,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,683,467 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $142,605,000 after purchasing an additional 713,688 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 11.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,888,623 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $35,053,000 after buying an additional 198,468 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 9.3% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,042 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 87.3% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 892,708 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $16,569,000 after acquiring an additional 416,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $234,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $20.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.06. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The business 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 company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.31%.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of Provident Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.