Provident Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVBC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Provident Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVBC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 287,300 shares, a growth of 142.0% from the June 30th total of 118,700 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 81,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insider Transactions at Provident Bancorp

In other news, CFO Kenneth R. Fisher purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.61 per share, for a total transaction of $48,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Dennis Pollack bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.92 per share, for a total transaction of $99,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,200. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth R. Fisher purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.61 per share, for a total transaction of $48,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $48,050. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 16,075 shares of company stock worth $158,161. Company insiders own 3.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PVBC. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new stake in Provident Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $243,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Provident Bancorp by 8.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Provident Bancorp by 135.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 64,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 37,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stilwell Value LLC raised its stake in Provident Bancorp by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Stilwell Value LLC now owns 1,831,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,443,000 after purchasing an additional 10,601 shares during the last quarter. 74.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ PVBC traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.86. The stock had a trading volume of 31,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,477. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $209.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.46. Provident Bancorp has a 52-week low of $7.36 and a 52-week high of $12.32.

Provident Bancorp (NASDAQ:PVBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter. Provident Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 14.09%. The business had revenue of $13.84 million during the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Provident Bancorp will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Provident Bancorp in a report on Monday, May 13th.

About Provident Bancorp

Provident Bancorp, Inc is a Maryland corporation that was formed in 2019 to be the successor corporation to Provident Bancorp, Inc, a Massachusetts corporation, and the holding company for The Provident Bank. The Provident Bank, a subsidiary of Provident Bancorp, Inc is an innovative, commercial bank that finds solutions for its business and private clients.