Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) Short Interest Up 17.9% in August

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,400 shares, an increase of 17.9% from the August 15th total of 22,400 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PROV shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Provident Financial from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on Provident Financial in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Provident Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PROV traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $14.69. 3,663 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,565. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.18. The company has a market cap of $100.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.40. Provident Financial has a 52 week low of $10.16 and a 52 week high of $15.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $15.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.57 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.67% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is 53.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.33% of Provident Financial worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors own 71.34% of the company’s stock.

About Provident Financial

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the holding company for Provident Savings Bank, F.S.B. that provides community banking services to consumers and small to mid-sized businesses in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits; and loan portfolio consists of single-family, multi-family, commercial real estate, construction, mortgage, commercial business, and consumer loans.