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

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

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

Provident Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

PROV opened at $14.20 on Friday. Provident Financial has a twelve month low of $12.01 and a twelve month high of $16.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.30. The stock has a market cap of $95.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.19. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 334,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,117 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 90,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 21,030 shares in the last quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Provident Financial by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 31,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Provident Financial by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.