Provident Financial Services, Inc. (PFS) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 26th

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date 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% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Provident Financial Services stock opened at $15.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.07. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $13.21 and a 12-month high of $19.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.66.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $114.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.50 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PFS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Provident Financial Services from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of Provident Financial Services 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.