Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio of 45.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.13 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 45.1%.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 1.8 %

PFS stock opened at $21.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.96. Provident Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.23.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%. The firm had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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