Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) Shares Break Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.34 and traded as high as $18.36. Provident Financial shares last traded at $18.31, with a volume of 6,227 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PROV shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Provident Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research raised Provident Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Provident Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Provident Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $113.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $10.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.00 million. Provident Financial had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Provident Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raffles Associates LP acquired a new position in Provident Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $6,727,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,224,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Provident Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,844,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $595,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Provident Financial by 73.9% in the second quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 32,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 13,756 shares during the last quarter. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Provident Financial

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc is the holding company for Provident Savings Bank, FSB, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Riverside, California. Through its banking subsidiary, the company serves consumers, businesses and real estate professionals primarily in Southern California, including communities in the Inland Empire and surrounding areas.

Provident Savings Bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate accounts.