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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given 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 5.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Provident Financial Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.1% per year over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 40.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Trading Down 4.4 %

NYSE PFS opened at $18.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. Research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Hovde Group started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In related news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total transaction of $73,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,223.52. This represents a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is 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.