Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

PROV has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Provident Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Provident Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Provident Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Provident Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PROV opened at $18.31 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.38. The company has a market cap of $114.07 million, a P/E ratio of 17.78 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 has a twelve month low of $14.95 and a twelve month high of $18.99.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $10.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.00 million. Provident Financial had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 5.23%. As a group, analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PROV. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Provident Financial by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Provident Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $190,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP increased its holdings in Provident Financial by 73.9% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 32,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 13,756 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Provident Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $4,844,000. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Provident Financial

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc is the holding company for Provident Savings Bank, FSB, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Riverside, California. Through its banking subsidiary, the company serves consumers, businesses and real estate professionals primarily in Southern California, including communities in the Inland Empire and surrounding areas.

Provident Savings Bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate accounts.