Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Separately, Piper Sandler increased 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 Price Performance

PROV traded down $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $15.56. The company had a trading volume of 7,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,039. Provident Financial has a one year low of $10.76 and a one year high of $16.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.70 and a 200-day moving average of $13.47. The company has a market capitalization of $105.34 million, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 million. Provident Financial had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 5.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Provident Financial's payout ratio is presently 51.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 approximately 0.33% of Provident Financial worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other 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.