Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) Short Interest Update

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,900 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the March 31st total of 44,500 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.4 days.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PROV traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $12.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,360. The stock has a market cap of $89.67 million, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.40. Provident Financial has a 12-month low of $10.16 and a 12-month high of $15.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.01.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.00 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 14.43%. On average, research analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is 48.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Provident Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Provident Financial stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.37% of Provident Financial worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.34% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Company Profile

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.