Provident Financial Services, Inc. (PFS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on November 29th

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

Provident Financial Services has raised its dividend by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 45.1% meaning 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 Performance

Shares of 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 cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.84 and a 200-day moving average of $16.96. Provident Financial Services has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.23.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly 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). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The company had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.25 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vito Giannola sold 5,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.