Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.01 and last traded at $34.01, with a volume of 647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Univest Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $927.25 million, a P/E ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.11 million. Univest Financial had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 8.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Univest Financial

In other Univest Financial news, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $104,485.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,601,328.04. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 4,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $130,553.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,592,876.25. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Univest Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UVSP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 1.2% in the first 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. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 11,533.8% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 8,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 8,535 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Univest Financial by 212.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Univest Financial by 5.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 145,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after acquiring an additional 7,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its stake in Univest Financial by 5.6% during the second quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 404,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,245,000 after acquiring an additional 21,550 shares in the last quarter. 75.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.