Provident Financial Services (NYSE: PFS) came in under analyst's estimates last quarter, but now have a chance to fix things this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, April 27. Provident Financial Services, through its subsidiary bank, provides a range of banking services to individual and business customers through branch offices in New Jersey.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Provident Financial Services while the remaining half rate the stock as a buy.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $53.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 0.4% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.27 per share. Estimates range from $0.26 to $0.28.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars are wary about the future of PFS, with 66.7% assigning it an "underperform" rating. The community is divided on the stock with 50% Fools giving it an "outperform" rating and 50% an "underperform" rating. Provident Financial Services has a CAPS rating of zero out of five stars.

Management:
Provident Financial Services' profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 15.5% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now, a look at how efficient management has been at running the business. Margins are a representation of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. For four quarters in a row, the company has seen increases in net margins year-over-year. Net margins reflect what percentage of revenue becomes profit. Here is how Provident Financial Services has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Net Margin

19.6%

20.0%

17.9%

16.9%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Provident Financial Services movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.