PROVIDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES INC 10-K

Item 5. Market For Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities. 48 The Company’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “PFS.” Trading in the Company’s common stock commenced on January 16, 2003. As of February 1, 2022, there were 83,209,012 shares of the Company’s common stock issued and 77,112,512 shares outstanding, and approximately 4,735 stockholders of record. On January 28, 2022, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per common share which was paid on February 25, 2022, to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 11, 2022. The Company’s Board of Directors intends to review the payment of dividends quarterly and plans to continue to maintain a regular quarterly cash dividend in the future, subject to financial condition, results of operations; tax considerations; industry standards; economic conditions; regulatory restrictions; including those that affect the payment of dividends by the Bank to the Company; and other relevant factors. 49 Stock Performance Graph Set forth below is a stock performance graph comparing (a) the cumulative total return on the Company’s common stock for the period December 31, 2016 through December 31, 2021, (b) the cumulative total return on stocks included in the Russell 2000 Index over such period, and (c) the cumulative total return of the S&P Composite Thrift Index over such period. This Index, produced by S&P Global, contains all thrift institutions traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ stock exchange. Cumulative return assumes the reinvestment of dividends and is expressed in dollars based on an assumed investment of $100 on December 31, 2016. Period Ending Index 12/31/2016 12/31/2017 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 Provident Financial Services, Inc. 100.00 98.79 91.27 97.40 75.46 105.99 Russell 2000 Index 100.00 114.65 102.02 128.06 153.62 176.39 S&P Composite 1500 Thrifts & Mortgage Finance Index 100.00 107.60 87.31 118.66 112.03 138.18 50 The following table reports information regarding purchases of the Company’s common stock during the fourth quarter of 2021 under the stock repurchase plan approved by the Company’s Board of Directors: ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES Period (a) Total Number of Shares Purchased (b) Average Price Paid per Share (c) Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Programs (1) (d) Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Programs (1) October 1, 2021 through October 31, 2021 — $ — — 3,441,106 November 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021 — — — 3,441,106 December 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 289,843 23.43 289,843 3,151,263 Total 289,843 $ 23.43 289,843 The Company repurchased 289,843 shares of its common stock at a cost of $6.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2021 under the stock repurchase program approved by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company repurchased 965,223 shares of its common stock at a cost of $21.7 million in 2021. At December 31, 2021, 3.2 million shares were eligible for repurchase under the board approved stock repurchase program. (1) On December 28, 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the purchase of up to 3,900,000 shares of its common stock under a ninth general repurchase program to commence upon completion of the eighth repurchase program. The repurchase program has no expiration date. Item 6. [Reserved]