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

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 given 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 is Friday, April 26th.

Provident Financial Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.4% per year over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 45.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Up 5.2 %

NYSE PFS opened at $14.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.35%. Provident Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In related news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFS. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 132.8% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,867 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, First Manhattan Co. raised its position in Provident Financial Services by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 2,130 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.