Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Share Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.48 and traded as high as $18.37. Provident Financial shares last traded at $18.15, with a volume of 16,028 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PROV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Provident Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Provident Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Provident Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Provident Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.49. The stock has a market cap of $112.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $10.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.00 million. Provident Financial had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 5.23%. Analysts forecast that Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PROV. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $4,844,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Provident Financial in the second quarter valued at about $595,000. Raffles Associates LP acquired a new position in Provident Financial in the second quarter valued at about $6,727,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Provident Financial in the second quarter valued at about $5,224,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Provident Financial during the second quarter worth about $37,000. 71.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Company Profile

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc is the holding company for Provident Savings Bank, FSB, a community-oriented savings bank headquartered in Riverside, California. The bank provides deposit and lending services to individuals, families, businesses and real estate professionals, with operations focused primarily on Southern California.

Provident Savings Bank offers checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, along with residential mortgage loans, multifamily and commercial real estate loans, construction financing, commercial business loans and consumer lending products.