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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 4.50%. 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. Equities 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 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $21.32 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.03. Provident Financial Services has a 52-week low of $13.07 and a 52-week high of $22.23.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PFS shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

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. Corporate insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

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.