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

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

Provident Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PROV stock opened at $12.90 on Wednesday. Provident Financial has a 12-month low of $10.16 and a 12-month high of $15.40. The company has a market capitalization of $89.40 million, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. Provident Financial had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm had revenue of $9.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.00 million. Research analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.37% of Provident Financial worth $338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.