Zacks Research Upgrades Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) to “Strong-Buy”

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Provident Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Provident Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Provident Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Provident Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of PROV opened at $18.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.84 million, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.33. Provident Financial has a one year low of $14.95 and a one year high of $18.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $10.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 10.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $190,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Provident Financial by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 13,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $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, a federally chartered community bank headquartered in Riverside, California. The bank serves individuals, families and businesses primarily in Southern California, with a focus on the Inland Empire and surrounding communities.

Provident Savings Bank offers a range of traditional banking products and services, including deposit accounts, residential mortgage loans, home equity financing, consumer loans and commercial real estate lending.