Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) in a research note released on Tuesday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Piper Sandler increased 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.

Provident Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

PROV stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.21. The company had a trading volume of 909 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,387. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $90.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.31. Provident Financial has a fifty-two week low of $10.16 and a fifty-two week high of $15.40.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $15.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.33% of Provident Financial worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 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.