Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires New Shares in UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 29,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UWM in the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UWM in the 4th quarter worth $77,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in UWM in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UWM by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 5,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of UWM by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 20,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 2,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.59% of the company’s stock.

UWM Trading Down 4.7%

UWM stock opened at $4.18 on Friday. UWM Holdings Co. has a 52 week low of $3.89 and a 52 week high of $9.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.16 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.45.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $613.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.80 million. Analysts expect that UWM Holdings Co. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

UWM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. UWM’s payout ratio is currently -307.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UWMC shares. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of UWM in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of UWM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $4.75 to $4.50 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of UWM from $7.50 to $6.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of UWM from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.86.

About UWM

UWM Holdings Corporation engages in the residential mortgage lending business in the United States. The company offers mortgage loans through wholesale channel. It originates primarily conforming and government loans. UWM Holdings Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan.