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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. 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. Equities 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 Stock Up 5.2 %

NYSE PFS opened at $14.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.65. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $13.21 and a twelve month high of $19.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PFS shares. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total transaction of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 650,642 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $11,731,000 after buying an additional 298,744 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 53,282 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 123,580 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 187,520 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 48,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $590,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.97% 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.