Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 154,600 shares, a decline of 56.4% from the October 15th total of 354,300 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 101,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.50, for a total value of $34,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,570,329.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.50, for a total value of $34,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,329.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $104,485.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,601,328.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,389 shares of company stock worth $412,352. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Univest Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Univest Financial by 10.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Univest Financial by 8.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 82,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Univest Financial by 28.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after buying an additional 26,234 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Univest Financial during the 1st quarter worth $465,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Univest Financial by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,571,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,713,000 after purchasing an additional 19,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Univest Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

UVSP stock opened at $31.56 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.49. The stock has a market cap of $916.60 million, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Univest Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.34 and a fifty-two week high of $32.24.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.07. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 14.90%. The firm had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Univest Financial will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Univest Financial’s payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on UVSP shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Univest Financial in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Univest Financial Company Profile

Univest Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Univest Bank and Trust Co that provides banking products and services primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance. The Banking segment offers a range of banking services, such as deposit taking, loan origination and servicing, mortgage banking, other general banking, and equipment lease financing services for individuals, businesses, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations.