Zacks Research Downgrades Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) to Hold

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

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Provident Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Provident Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Provident Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Provident Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PROV opened at $18.31 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.38. Provident Financial has a 12 month low of $14.95 and a 12 month high of $18.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $114.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 0.32.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its 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. Provident Financial had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 5.23%. The firm had revenue of $10.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.00 million. Equities analysts predict that Provident Financial will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PROV. Raffles Associates LP purchased a new stake in Provident Financial in the second quarter worth about $6,727,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Provident Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,224,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,844,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $595,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial by 73.9% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 32,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 13,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.34% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Company Profile

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.