Provident Financial Services, Inc (PFS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on February 27th

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th.

Provident Financial Services has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 42.1% 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 Price Performance

PFS opened at $23.42 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.70. Provident Financial Services has a 12-month low of $14.34 and a 12-month high of $23.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $225.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.08 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 21.06% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial Services will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $25.00 target price on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson cut Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.70.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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.