Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc.

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, 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; and manages and sells real estate properties acquired through foreclosure. The company was founded in 1839 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Stellar Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company that provides a range of commercial banking products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individual customers. It offers deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and other time deposits, as well as convenient services, such as telephone, mobile, and online banking. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans; commercial real estate loans comprising multi-family residential loans; commercial real estate construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans comprising 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, including home equity and home improvement loans, and home equity lines of credit; commercial and retail lending services, such as loans to small businesses, mortgage loans, personal loans, and automobile loans; and factoring services. In addition, it offers safe deposit boxes, debit cards, cash management and wire transfer services, night depository services, direct deposits, cashier’s checks, and letters of credit. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Latest Banks and Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp, Inc. Stock News

As of February 10, 2026, Provident Financial Services, Inc. had a $3.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $560.8 million. Provident Financial Services, Inc.’s stock is up 17.7% in 2026, down 0.2% in the previous five trading days and up 21.88% in the past year.

Currently, Provident Financial Services, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 11.9. Provident Financial Services, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $836.9 million with a 33.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 6.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.373 per share for the current fiscal year. Provident Financial Services, Inc. currently has a 4.1% dividend yield.

As of February 10, 2026, Stellar Bancorp, Inc. had a $2.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 55th percentile of all stocks. Stellar Bancorp, Inc.’s stock is up 28.3% in 2026, up 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 35.32% in the past year.

Currently, Stellar Bancorp, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 20.4. Stellar Bancorp, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $416.5 million with a 24.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -7.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.177 per share for the current fiscal year. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. currently has a 1.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Provident Financial Services, Inc.	PFS	A
Stellar Bancorp, Inc.	STEL	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a Value Score of 84, which is Deep Value. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. has a Value Score of 50, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: Provident Financial Services, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Provident Financial Services, Inc. is considered to have better value than Stellar Bancorp, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Provident Financial Services, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Provident Financial Services, Inc.	PFS	A
Stellar Bancorp, Inc.	STEL	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a Growth Score of 87, which is Very Strong. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. has a Growth Score of 49, which is Average.

The Growth Grade Winner: Provident Financial Services, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Stellar Bancorp, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Provident Financial Services, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Provident Financial Services, Inc.	PFS	B
Stellar Bancorp, Inc.	STEL	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 68, which is Positive. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 62, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, both Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. have a grade of B. For those focusing solely on a company’s estimate revisions, other financial metrics will need to be evaluated to determine whether Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp or Inc. is a better fit.

Other Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Value and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Provident Financial Services, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 84, Growth Score of 87 and Estimate Revisions Score of 68.

Stellar Bancorp, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 50, Growth Score of 49 and Estimate Revisions Score of 62.

Comparing Provident Financial Services, Inc., Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.