Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Provident Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PROV opened at $14.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.25 and its 200-day moving average is $15.33. Provident Financial has a 52-week low of $12.01 and a 52-week high of $16.70. 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 company has a market cap of $93.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.35.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.13). Provident Financial had a return on equity of 4.81% and a net margin of 10.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PROV. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial by 4.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 25,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $991,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 23,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 26,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 5,445 shares in the last quarter. 71.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Company Profile

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.