Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Now Covered by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Provident Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

Provident Financial stock opened at $15.80 on Friday. Provident Financial has a fifty-two week low of $12.01 and a fifty-two week high of $16.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $106.86 million, a P/E ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.52.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Provident Financial had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 5.78%. The company had revenue of $14.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Provident Financial will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Provident Financial stock. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 69,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000. Fourthstone LLC owned approximately 1.02% of Provident Financial at the end of the most recent 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.