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

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

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

Provident Financial Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:PROV opened at $14.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Provident Financial has a one year low of $12.01 and a one year high of $16.70. The company has a market cap of $99.76 million, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.39.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 4.81% and a net margin of 10.39%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Provident Financial by 4.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Provident Financial by 0.3% during 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 last quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 21,030 shares during the last 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.