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

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, August 28th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th.

Provident Financial Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 42.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.53 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 37.9%.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $24.86 on Friday. Provident Financial Services has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $25.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.27. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $234.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.57 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 11.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on PFS shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Provident Financial Services from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stephens assumed coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

About Provident Financial Services

Provident Financial Services, Inc is the bank holding company for Provident Bank, a regional commercial bank headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company operates a network of full-service branches across New Jersey, the New York metropolitan area and eastern Pennsylvania, offering a range of personal and business banking solutions.

Its core products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate financing and small-business lending.