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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Provident Financial Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.1% per year over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 41.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.26 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 42.5%.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of PFS stock opened at $19.49 on Wednesday. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $13.07 and a 12-month high of $22.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.26 and a 200-day moving average of $19.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 10.13%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. This trade represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFS. StockNews.com lowered Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

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.