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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th.

Provident Financial Services has raised its dividend by an average of 1.4% per year over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 45.3% meaning 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 Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE PFS opened at $15.53 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.66. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.21 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Provident Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on PFS shares. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. DA Davidson raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.