Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Provident Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Provident Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PROV opened at $16.31 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.38. Provident Financial has a 52 week low of $11.75 and a 52 week high of $16.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. Provident Financial had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 5.78%. The business had revenue of $14.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Provident Financial will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.38%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.38% of Provident Financial worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.