Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Short Interest Up 21.9% in November

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 270,500 shares, a growth of 21.9% from the November 15th total of 221,900 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 106,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its position in Univest Financial by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 404,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,245,000 after buying an additional 21,550 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its holdings in Univest Financial by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 71,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 26,473 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Univest Financial by 2,713.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Univest Financial by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 7,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Univest Financial by 212.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Univest Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UVSP traded up $0.20 on Monday, hitting $32.02. The stock had a trading volume of 20,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,623. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.00. The company has a market capitalization of $929.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Univest Financial has a twelve month low of $18.41 and a twelve month high of $32.75.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.07. The business 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 company earned $0.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Univest Financial will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.73%.

About Univest Financial

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.