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

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

Separately, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Provident Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

PROV opened at $16.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.18 million, a P/E ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.38. Provident Financial has a 12-month low of $12.01 and a 12-month high of $16.70.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 million. Provident Financial had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 5.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.38%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Provident Financial stock. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 69,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000. Fourthstone LLC owned 1.02% of Provident Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other 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.