StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV)

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

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Provident Financial from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Provident Financial Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of PROV opened at $15.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.52 and a 200 day moving average of $13.39. Provident Financial has a 1-year low of $10.16 and a 1-year high of $15.85.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.67% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Provident Financial stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 0.33% of Provident Financial worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 71.34% of the stock is owned by 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.