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

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) in a report issued 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Provident Financial Price Performance

Shares of Provident Financial stock opened at $15.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.76 and a 200 day moving average of $15.20. Provident Financial has a 12 month low of $12.01 and a 12 month high of $16.70. The firm has a market cap of $103.71 million, a PE ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PROV. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Provident Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $991,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings 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 worth $5,326,000 after buying an additional 23,117 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 period. 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 purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 period. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.