Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Plans $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, NASDAQ reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th.

Provident Financial Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 43.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.18 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.0%.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS stock traded down $0.17 on Wednesday, hitting $19.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 606,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 892,456. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.61 and its 200-day moving average is $16.61. Provident Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $19.97. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.10). 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 4.95% and a net margin of 9.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction of $99,476.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,787.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

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.