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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th.

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 45.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.04 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 47.1%.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 5.2 %

PFS opened at $14.46 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.75 and a 200-day moving average of $15.65. Provident Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $13.21 and a fifty-two week high of $19.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total transaction of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,217 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 597.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,907 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 10,200 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $178,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1,728.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,333 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,932 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on PFS shares. TheStreet cut Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Provident Financial Services Company 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.