Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV) Short Interest Down 17.1% in April

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,900 shares, a decrease of 17.1% from the March 31st total of 44,500 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Provident Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Provident Financial stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROV - Free Report) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 about 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PROV traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.90. The company had a trading volume of 11,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,315. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $13.75 and a 200 day moving average of $13.01. The company has a market cap of $89.36 million, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.40. Provident Financial has a 1 year low of $10.16 and a 1 year high of $15.40.

Provident Financial (NASDAQ:PROV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Provident Financial will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Provident Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Provident Financial in a report on Wednesday. They issued 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.