The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Stock Position in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,210,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,401 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 4.15% of Univest Financial worth $27,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Univest Financial during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Univest Financial by 307.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,714 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 212.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 95.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 11,533.8% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 8,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 8,535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Univest Financial Stock Performance

Shares of UVSP stock opened at $28.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $823.71 million, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.54. Univest Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $29.49.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.10. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 14.91%. The company had revenue of $120.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UVSP. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Univest Financial from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Univest Financial in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,601,328.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Univest Financial news, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 1,200 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $34,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,329.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $104,485.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,601,328.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,389 shares of company stock worth $412,352 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.