StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV)

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

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

Provident Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

PROV stock opened at $16.31 on Thursday. Provident Financial has a 52 week low of $11.75 and a 52 week high of $16.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $110.26 million, a PE ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.38.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 12.58%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Provident Financial stock. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 69,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000. Fourthstone LLC owned 1.02% of Provident Financial at the end of the most recent quarter. 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.