Provident Financial Services, I (PFS) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
PFS is Provident Financial Services, the New Jersey holding company for Provident Bank, a mid-cap regional lender you would evaluate as a rate-sensitive, dividend-paying community bank rather than a growth story. It became a roughly $24 billion-asset franchise after absorbing Lakeland Bancorp in 2024, and it trades at a low-double-digit earnings multiple with a mid-single-digit dividend yield.
PFS stock price
As of 2026-07-22, Provident Financial Services, I (PFS) last closed at $23.92, up 30.6% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $17.77 and $24.55.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Provident Financial Services, I's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Provident Financial Services, I (PFS) do?
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.
What's driving Provident Financial Services, I (PFS)?
1. 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. Realizing cost savings and cross-selling the combined deposit base is a central driver of profitability, and management has pointed to pre-provision net revenue growth as integration matures. Successful execution supports operating leverage on a larger platform.
2. Net interest margin and deposit costs
As a spread lender, PFS earnings rise and fall with net interest margin. Recent results benefited from expanding net interest income as funding costs stabilized and higher-yielding assets repriced. The trajectory of interest rates and the bank's ability to hold down deposit costs remain the largest single input to earnings.
3. Fee income from insurance and wealth
Provident Protection Plus (insurance agency) and Beacon Trust (wealth management) provide non-interest income that diversifies away from pure spread banking. Recent quarters featured record non-interest income, including higher insurance agency income, which cushions results when margin is under pressure and adds a more stable revenue stream.
4. Capital return through dividends
PFS has a long history of returning capital through a quarterly dividend, and the yield sits in the mid-single digits, well above the broader market. For a slow-growth community bank, the dividend is a core component of total return, funded by steady spread and fee earnings and supported by regulatory capital levels.
What are the risks to Provident Financial Services, I (PFS)?
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.
How is Provident Financial Services, I (PFS) valued? (approximate, JULY 2026)
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.
Who competes with Provident Financial Services, I (PFS)?
New Jersey regional banks
Valley National Bancorp (a larger, roughly $60 billion-asset New Jersey lender), Columbia Financial, and OceanFirst Financial compete directly for the same deposits, commercial real estate, and middle-market lending across the state. These are the closest peers in geography and business mix.
Northeast super-community and mid-cap banks
Regional players such as Webster Financial, M&T Bank, and Fulton Financial overlap in commercial and consumer banking across the Northeast, giving them scale advantages in technology and lending capacity that pressure smaller franchises like Provident.
National banks and non-bank lenders
Money-center banks (JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) and non-bank fintech and private-credit lenders compete for deposits and commercial loans, using broad product sets and pricing power that community banks must offset with local relationships and service.
How to invest in Provident Financial Services, I (PFS)
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 basket, so PFS sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket 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.
The bottom line on Provident Financial Services, I (PFS)
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.
More on Provident Financial Services, I (PFS)
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?, 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?
Build a basket around PFS with Walnut
Use Provident Financial Services, I as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Provident Financial Services do?
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It is the holding company for Provident Bank, a New Jersey community and commercial bank that takes deposits and makes loans, with a focus on commercial real estate and commercial lending. It also runs insurance (Provident Protection Plus) and wealth management (Beacon Trust) businesses.
Is PFS a large-cap or small-cap stock?
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PFS is a mid-cap to small-cap regional bank, with a market capitalization of roughly $3 billion and about $24 billion in total assets as of mid-2026. It is one of the larger New Jersey-based banks but small relative to national banks.
What was the Lakeland Bancorp merger?
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In May 2024 Provident completed an all-stock merger with Lakeland Bancorp valued at roughly $1.3 billion. The deal roughly doubled the balance sheet to about $24 billion in assets and expanded the northern New Jersey footprint, with Provident shareholders owning about 58 percent of the combined company.
Does PFS pay a dividend?
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Yes. Provident has a long history of paying a quarterly cash dividend, and the yield has run in the mid-single-digit range, around 4 to 5 percent. For a slow-growth community bank, the dividend is a significant part of total return.
What are the biggest risks for PFS?
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Key risks include its concentration in commercial real estate loans, sensitivity to interest rate moves, geographic concentration in New Jersey and the surrounding region, deposit competition, and integration and credit risk tied to the Lakeland merger.
How does PFS make money?
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Most earnings come from net interest income, the spread between what it earns on loans and securities and what it pays on deposits and borrowings. It also earns non-interest income from insurance commissions, wealth and trust fees, and service charges.
Who competes with Provident Financial Services?
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Its closest competitors are other New Jersey and Northeast regional banks such as Valley National Bancorp, Columbia Financial, OceanFirst Financial, and Fulton Financial, along with national banks and non-bank lenders that compete for deposits and commercial loans.
How is PFS valued relative to peers?
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PFS trades at a low-double-digit trailing earnings multiple, around 10 times earnings, and near tangible book value, a valuation broadly in line with other slow-growth regional banks. Its above-average dividend yield reflects the market's modest growth expectations.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Provident Financial Services, I's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.