Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Provident Financial from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ PROV opened at $13.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $91.06 million, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.76 and a 200-day moving average of $13.27. Provident Financial has a 52-week low of $10.16 and a 52-week high of $15.40.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $15.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.57 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Provident Financial will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is presently 53.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Provident Financial worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.