Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

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

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

Provident Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PROV opened at $18.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.84 million, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.34 and its 200 day moving average is $17.23. Provident Financial has a 52 week low of $14.95 and a 52 week high of $18.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last released its earnings results 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). Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $10.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Provident Financial will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

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

Provident Financial Company Profile

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.