Provident Financial Services, I (PFS) Stock Price & How to Invest

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: PFS) is the holding company for Provident Bank, a community and commercial bank founded in 1839 and headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey. Its core business is gathering deposits and making loans, with a heavy tilt toward commercial real estate and commercial and industrial lending across New Jersey, southern New York, and eastern Pennsylvania. Beyond spread banking, Provident runs meaningful fee businesses: Provident Protection Plus (insurance agency) and Beacon Trust (wealth and fiduciary services). The May 2024 all-stock merger with Lakeland Bancorp roughly doubled the balance sheet to about $24 billion in assets, $19 billion in loans, and $19 billion in deposits, making PFS one of the larger New Jersey-based banks.

The investment picture is that of a rate-sensitive regional bank. Earnings are driven by net interest margin, loan growth, deposit costs, and credit quality on a loan book concentrated in commercial real estate. Recent quarters showed net interest income and insurance income expanding, with the company posting improved pre-provision net revenue and record loan pipelines. PFS pays a substantial dividend and trades at a modest earnings multiple typical of community banks, so returns tend to come from yield plus book-value accretion rather than fast growth, while the main swing factors are interest rates and commercial real estate credit trends.

Commercial real estate concentration is the most watched risk, since a large share of the loan book is CRE and office and multifamily exposure could pressure credit costs if property values or occupancy weaken. As a New Jersey regional bank, PFS is geographically concentrated and exposed to the local economy and to deposit competition from larger banks. Interest rate moves cut both ways: falling rates can compress asset yields while rising rates lift deposit costs and can create unrealized securities losses. Integration risk from the Lakeland merger, regulatory capital requirements, and the general cyclicality of bank credit provisions round out the picture.

6 analysts publish price targets on PFS, averaging $27.92 against a $23.00 price as of September 2026, or +21.4%. The published targets run from $26.00 to $30.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 4 buy, 2 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 4 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full PFS forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Provident Financial Services, I. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Lakeland merger scale and cost synergies. The 2024 Lakeland Bancorp combination roughly doubled PFS to about $24 billion in assets and expanded its northern New Jersey footprint. The most optimistic published target, $30.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Commercial real estate concentration is the most watched risk, since a large share of the loan book is CRE and office and multifamily exposure could pressure credit costs if property values or occupancy weaken. The most pessimistic target, $26.00, is roughly what PFS is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on PFS, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Provident Financial Services, I's investor relations page or your broker.

• Market cap: ~$3.1B
• Total assets: ~$24B
• Revenue (TTM, net interest + fees): ~$900M
• EPS (TTM): ~$2.35
• P/E (TTM): ~10x
• Dividend yield: ~4%

PFS trades at a low-double-digit trailing earnings multiple and around tangible book value, a valuation typical of a slow-growth regional bank. Quarterly net income has run in the roughly $75 million to $85 million range following the Lakeland deal, with recent quarters showing pre-provision net revenue growth and record non-interest income. Figures are approximate and move with interest rates, loan growth, and credit provisions.

Other names that sit close to PFS: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get PFS exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so PFS sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where PFS fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

PFS is a scaled-up New Jersey community bank whose story hinges on net interest margin, commercial real estate credit, and integration of the Lakeland deal, not on rapid growth.

Whether PFS is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is PFS a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the PFS stock forecast.

For income investors, whether PFS pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does PFS pay a dividend? And to weigh PFS against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: PFS vs NJR and PFS vs VLY.