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

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

Separately, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Provident Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Provident Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

PROV opened at $15.50 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.20. The company has a market capitalization of $103.71 million, a P/E ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 0.39. Provident Financial has a 52 week low of $12.01 and a 52 week high of $16.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.13). Provident Financial had a net margin of 10.39% and a return on equity of 4.81%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 25,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 486,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 31,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Provident Financial by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 26,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 5,445 shares during the period. Finally, Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 90,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 21,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.34% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Company Profile

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.