Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Short Interest Update

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 217,700 shares, a drop of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 271,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 108,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Univest Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

Univest Financial stock opened at $18.72 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $552.78 million, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Univest Financial has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $23.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.53.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $71.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.32 million. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Univest Financial will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Univest Financial from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Univest Financial by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,426,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,943,000 after buying an additional 30,972 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Univest Financial by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,556,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,426,000 after acquiring an additional 130,584 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 1.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,211,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,499,000 after purchasing an additional 27,162 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,551,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,188,000 after purchasing an additional 56,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Univest Financial by 2.5% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,335,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,733,000 after purchasing an additional 32,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

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.