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

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th.

Provident Financial Services has increased its dividend by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a 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 Price Performance

Shares of PFS opened at $14.46 on Friday. The company 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 fifty-two week low of $13.21 and a fifty-two week high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.75 and its 200-day moving average is $15.65.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 0.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,351,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $265,617,000 after acquiring an additional 70,302 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,217,716 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $160,245,000 after acquiring an additional 124,787 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,086,247 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $66,769,000 after acquiring an additional 132,482 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,461,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 45,643 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 60.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,073,084 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,110,000 after acquiring an additional 403,067 shares during the period. 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.