Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) SVP Sells 4,800 Shares

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) SVP Gwendolyn Wertz sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.64, for a total value of $75,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,198.68. This trade represents a 18.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

PROV traded up $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $15.57. 8,411 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,298. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.98 and a 1-year high of $16.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.25 million, a P/E ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.42.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.04). Provident Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 4.69%. The business had revenue of $14.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.20 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.22%.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120 shares during the period. M3F Inc. lifted its position in Provident Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 438,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,394,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in Provident Financial by 31.4% during the second quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 115,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after buying an additional 27,556 shares in the last quarter. 71.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PROV shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Provident Financial from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Provident Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Provident Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Provident Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $16.00.

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.