Provident Financial Services, Inc. (PFS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on February 28th

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Provident Financial Services has raised its dividend by an average of 1.1% annually over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 41.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.26 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 42.5%.

Provident Financial Services Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE PFS opened at $19.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.09. Provident Financial Services has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 5.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PFS. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered Provident Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In related news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. This trade represents a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.