Contrasting Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) and Bluegreen Vacations (OTCMKTS:BVHBB)

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

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Provident Financial Services	$603.57 million	4.63	$128.40 million	$1.04	20.58
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. Bluegreen Vacations is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Provident Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider 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 stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Provident Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Bluegreen Vacations pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Provident Financial Services pays out 92.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bluegreen Vacations pays out 5.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations 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	0.00

Provident Financial Services currently has a consensus target price of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.48%. Given Provident Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Provident Financial Services is more favorable than Bluegreen Vacations.

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	9.55%	5.21%	0.58%
Bluegreen Vacations	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Provident Financial Services beats Bluegreen Vacations on 11 of the 15 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.