Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) SVP Gwendolyn Wertz Sells 4,800 Shares

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) SVP Gwendolyn Wertz sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.64, for a total transaction of $75,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,198.68. This trade represents a 18.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Provident Financial Stock Up 0.5%

PROV traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.57. 8,411 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,298. Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.98 and a fifty-two week high of $16.70. The company has a market cap of $101.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.47.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.04). Provident Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 4.69%. The firm had revenue of $14.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.20 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourthstone LLC increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 115,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,786,000 after acquiring an additional 27,556 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Provident Financial by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M3F Inc. boosted its position in shares of Provident Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 438,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,394,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Provident Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Provident Financial from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Provident Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

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.