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

Key Points

• Provident Financial Services declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, payable August 28 to shareholders of record August 14. The dividend implies an annualized payout of $0.96 and a yield of approximately 3.9%.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.60, exceeding analysts’ $0.56 estimate, while revenue of $234.96 million also topped expectations. Its 42.1% payout ratio suggests the dividend remains well covered by earnings.
• Shares opened at $24.86 and were up 3.3%, near the stock’s 52-week high of $25.41. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 72% of the company’s shares.

Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, August 28th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th.

Provident Financial Services has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Provident Financial Services has a payout ratio of 42.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Provident Financial Services to earn $2.53 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 37.9%.

Provident Financial Services Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $24.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.27. Provident Financial Services has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $25.41.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 22.15%.The company had revenue of $234.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Provident Financial Services

In other news, CEO George Lista sold 2,556 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.40, for a total transaction of $57,254.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,468.80. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Provident Financial Services by 10.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,359,098 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $122,603,000 after buying an additional 576,673 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,239,628 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $24,483,000 after acquiring an additional 342,301 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial Services by 251.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 413,107 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $7,242,000 after buying an additional 295,521 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,070,734 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $170,775,000 after purchasing an additional 256,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Provident Financial Services by 493.6% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 301,329 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,951,000 after buying an additional 250,566 shares in the last quarter. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Provident Financial Services

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.

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