Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market For Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
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, 2024, there were 83,209,012 shares of the Company’s common stock issued and 75,601,505 shares outstanding, and approximately 4,523 stockholders of record.
On January 25, 2024, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per common share which was paid on February 23, 2024, to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 9, 2024. 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.
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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, 2018 through December 31, 2023, (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 U.S. SmallCap Banks 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, 2018.
Period Ending
Index 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2022 12/31/2023
Provident Financial Services, Inc. 100.00 106.72 82.67 116.13 106.80 95.28
Russell 2000 Index 100.00 125.53 150.58 172.90 137.56 160.85
S&P U.S. SmallCap Banks Index 100.00 125.46 113.94 158.62 139.85 140.55
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The following table reports information regarding purchases of the Company’s common stock during the fourth quarter of 2023 under the stock repurchase plan approved by the Company’s board of directors:
ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
The Company repurchased 424 shares of its common stock at a cost of $6,735 during the fourth quarter of 2023 under the stock repurchase program approved by the Company’s board of directors. The Company repurchased 71,781 shares of its common stock at a cost of $1.7 million in 2023. As of December 31, 2023, 1.1 million shares were eligible for repurchase under the board approved stock repurchase program.
Period Total Number
of Shares
Purchased
Average
Price Paid per
Share
Total Number of
Shares
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced Programs (1)
Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Programs (1)
October 1, 2023 through October 31, 2023 58 $ 15.21 58 1,062,566
November 1, 2023 through November 30, 2023 104 15.77 104 1,062,462
December 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 262 16.08 262 1,062,200
Total 424 $ 15.88 424
(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]