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

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

Separately, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Provident Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Provident Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PROV stock opened at $14.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.41 million, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.35. Provident Financial has a fifty-two week low of $12.01 and a fifty-two week high of $16.70.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share 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 last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Provident Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 486,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Provident Financial by 7.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 23,117 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC grew its holdings in Provident Financial by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 90,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 21,030 shares during the period. Black Maple Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Provident Financial by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 31,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. 71.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.