Provident Financial Services, Inc. (PFS) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 14th

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid 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 yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 40.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.13 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 45.1%.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFS opened at $18.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.02. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.08. Provident Financial Services has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.13). Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 9.55%. On average, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In related news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PFS shares. Hovde Group started coverage on Provident Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.