Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) & Bluegreen Vacations (OTCMKTS:BVHBB) Critical Review

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) and Bluegreen Vacations (OTCMKTS:BVHBB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.0% of Provident Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.7% of Bluegreen Vacations shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Provident Financial Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 88.2% of Bluegreen Vacations shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Provident Financial Services and Bluegreen Vacations’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Provident Financial Services	9.38%	4.95%	0.56%
Bluegreen Vacations	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Provident Financial Services and Bluegreen Vacations”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Provident Financial Services	$508.57 million	4.78	$128.40 million	$1.60	11.63
Bluegreen Vacations	$919.43 million	1.33	$64.39 million	$3.71	19.41

Provident Financial Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bluegreen Vacations. Provident Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bluegreen Vacations, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Provident Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Bluegreen Vacations pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Provident Financial Services pays out 60.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bluegreen Vacations pays out 5.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Provident Financial Services and Bluegreen Vacations, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Provident Financial Services	0	0	3	0	3.00
Bluegreen Vacations	0	0	0	0	N/A

Provident Financial Services presently has a consensus price target of $20.67, suggesting a potential upside of 11.05%. Given Provident Financial Services’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Provident Financial Services is more favorable than Bluegreen Vacations.

Summary

Provident Financial Services beats Bluegreen Vacations on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Provident Financial Services

Provident Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products. The company's loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans that are secured by properties, such as multi-family apartment buildings, office buildings, retail and industrial properties, and office buildings; commercial business loans; fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans collateralized by one- to four-family residential real estate properties; commercial construction loans; and consumer loans consisting of home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, personal loans and unsecured lines of credit, and auto and recreational vehicle loans. It also offers cash management, remote deposit capture, payroll origination, escrow account management, and online and mobile banking services; and business credit cards. In addition, the company provides wealth management services comprising investment management, trust and estate administration, financial planning, and tax compliance and planning. Further, it sells insurance and investment products, including annuities; operates as a real estate investment trust for acquiring mortgage loans and other real estate related assets; and manages and sells real estate properties acquired through foreclosure. The company was founded in 1839 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.

About Bluegreen Vacations

Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation operates as a vacation ownership company. The company markets and sells vacation ownership interests (VOI); and manages resorts in leisure and urban destinations, including Orlando, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and New Orleans, and others. It also provides resort management, mortgage, title, reservation, and construction design and development services; and financing to qualified VOI purchasers, as well as management services to the vacation club and homeowners' associations. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.