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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Friday, April 26th.

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 45.3% indicating that 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 %

Shares of PFS opened at $14.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.07. Provident Financial Services has a 1 year low of $13.21 and a 1 year high of $19.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,947 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,217 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,237 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,988 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.97% of the company’s stock.

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.