Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Stock Price

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $16.50 to $16.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.66% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Provident Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

Provident Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PROV opened at $15.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.65 and a 200 day moving average of $15.41. The firm has a market cap of $102.30 million, a PE ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 0.40. Provident Financial has a one year low of $12.98 and a one year high of $16.70.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $8.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.20 million. Provident Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 4.69%. As a group, research analysts predict that Provident Financial will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M3F Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 438,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in shares of Provident Financial by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 115,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,786,000 after acquiring an additional 27,556 shares during the last quarter. 71.34% of the stock is 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.