Davidson raises Provident Financial Services PT after Q4 profit beat

Provident Financial Services

31/01/2022 10:58

** Davidson raises the regional bank's  PFS.N  PT to $26
from $24 after quarterly profit tops Street estimates
    ** PT implies an upside of ~8.5% to the stock's last close
on the NYSE 
    ** Co reported Q4 profit of $0.49/shr vs analyst estimates
of $0.47/shr - Refinitiv data  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2U85RK
    ** Brokerage expects PFS to maintain momentum as it
continues to target 5% to 6% total organic loan growth 
    ** Says net interest margin will see a steady lift as the
Fed raises rates 
    ** "PFS guides to a FY22 NIM range of 2.99%-3.05% with the
low end of the range reflecting a single Fed rate hike and the
high end 3 moves, alongside a low 20% assumed deposit beta" -
Davidson 
    ** Two of six brokerages rate the stock "buy", four "hold";
their median PT is $26 - Refinitiv data 
    ** Up to last close, PFS down 1.03% so far this year vs a
4.46% drop in the NYSE Composite Index  .NYA  

 (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru)
 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com;))