Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Bought by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $3,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $268,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,026,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 55.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 795,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,771,000 after acquiring an additional 283,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 10.6% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of PFS opened at $19.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.08. Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.07 and a 52-week high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

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.