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

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

Separately, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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 Performance

Shares of PROV opened at $14.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.30. The company has a market cap of $95.01 million, a PE ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.19. Provident Financial has a 12-month low of $12.01 and a 12-month high of $16.70. 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 data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PROV. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Provident Financial by 25.9% in the fourth 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. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Black Maple Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in shares of Provident Financial by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 90,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,433,000 after buying an additional 21,030 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 334,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,117 shares in 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.