Should Income Investors Look At Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Before Its Ex-Dividend?
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) is about to go ex-dividend in just two days. You can purchase shares before the 12th of November in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 27th of November.
Provident Financial Services's next dividend payment will be US$0.23 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.92 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Provident Financial Services has a trailing yield of 6.7% on the current share price of $13.7. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
See our latest analysis for Provident Financial Services
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Provident Financial Services is paying out an acceptable 74% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.
Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks with flat earnings can still be attractive dividend payers, but it is important to be more conservative with your approach and demand a greater margin for safety when it comes to dividend sustainability. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That explains why we're not overly excited about Provident Financial Services's flat earnings over the past five years. It's better than seeing them drop, certainly, but over the long term, all of the best dividend stocks are able to meaningfully grow their earnings per share.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Provident Financial Services has delivered 7.7% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.
The Bottom Line
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Provident Financial Services? Provident Financial Services has been struggling to generate growth while also paying out more than half of its earnings to shareholders as dividends. At best we would put it on a watch-list to see if business conditions improve, as it doesn't look like a clear opportunity right now.
Wondering what the future holds for Provident Financial Services? See what the six analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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