Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in 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. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.37% of Provident Financial worth $338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 71.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Trading Down 4.0 %

Provident Financial stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $12.38. 17,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,397. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $85.79 million, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.01. Provident Financial has a 12-month low of $10.16 and a 12-month high of $15.40.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $9.65 million for 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%. Research analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Provident Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Provident Financial

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.