UWM (NYSE:UWMC) Trading Down 5.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of UWM Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UWMC) were down 5.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $5.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. UWM traded as low as $3.77 and last traded at $3.7150. Approximately 583,806 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 18,506,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.92.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $5.00 price target on UWM in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded UWM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of UWM in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Argus upgraded UWM to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded UWM from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UWM currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at UWM

In related news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 1,000,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.87, for a total transaction of $3,872,221.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 7,326,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,353,218.31. This represents a 12.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,561,842 shares of company stock worth $107,798,721. 87.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in UWM by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,959,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,042,000 after buying an additional 1,676,754 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP grew its stake in UWM by 230.8% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 11,296,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,477,000 after buying an additional 7,881,586 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in UWM during the 4th quarter worth $45,867,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in UWM by 116.6% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,991,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,803,000 after buying an additional 3,224,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new position in UWM during the 3rd quarter worth $32,630,000. 53.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UWM Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.42 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.16 and a 200 day moving average of $4.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). UWM had a negative return on equity of 1.35% and a net margin of 0.87%.The firm had revenue of $945.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.12 million. Equities analysts predict that UWM Holdings Corporation will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

UWM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.9%. UWM’s dividend payout ratio is 666.67%.

About UWM

United Wholesale Mortgage (NYSE: UWMC) is a leading mortgage lender in the United States specializing in the wholesale channel. The company partners with independent mortgage brokers, community banks and credit unions to offer a full suite of residential mortgage products. Through its network of third-party originators, United Wholesale Mortgage underwrites, funds and closes loans, allowing its partners to focus on customer acquisition and service.

The company’s product offerings include conventional fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, U.S.