Boenning & Scattergood Keeps a Hold Rating on Provident Financial Services (PFS)


Boenning & Scattergood analyst Erik Zwick reiterated a Hold rating on Provident Financial Services (NYSE: PFS) today. The company’s shares opened today at $24.71.

Zwick wrote:

“We remain Neutral on shares of PFS following 3Q18 results. We expect future loan growth in the low-to-mid-single-digit range, slower than some peers, due to a combination of competitive markets, elevated borrower paydown activity, and strict underwriting criteria. The other big issue facing Provident today is the upcoming crossing of the $10 billion regulatory threshold. While recent FinReg reform could soften the impact relative to prior expectations, Durbin is still likely to reduce revenue by approximately $3 million. Shares of Provident currently trade above peers at 13.3x our 2019 EPS estimate (11.5x peer average) and 1.8x TBV (1.6x peer average). Thus, as we weigh the strengths and challenges facing the company today, we view the stock as fairly valued.”

According to TipRanks.com, Zwick is a 2-star analyst with an average return of -0.1% and a 39.5% success rate. Zwick covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Community Bank System, The Bank of Princeton, and Webster Financial.

Provident Financial Services has an analyst consensus of Hold, with a price target consensus of $27.

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The company has a one-year high of $29.12 and a one-year low of $22.22. Currently, Provident Financial Services has an average volume of 157.9K.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 79 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of PFS in relation to earlier this year. Last month, Donald Blum, the EVP of PFS bought 10,507 shares for a total of $109,273.

TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.

Provident Financial Services, Inc. operates as a holding company for The Provident Bank, which provides banking services to individual and corporate customers in northern and central New Jersey. And eastern Pennsylvania.

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