Short Interest in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Expands By 21.5%

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 264,500 shares, an increase of 21.5% from the March 31st total of 217,700 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 99,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Univest Financial Trading Down 1.9 %

UVSP traded down $0.41 on Tuesday, reaching $20.93. 87,272 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,212. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.84 and its 200-day moving average is $19.72. The company has a market cap of $618.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 0.89. Univest Financial has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $22.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UVSP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Univest Financial from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Univest Financial in a report on Friday.

Institutional Trading of Univest Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in Univest Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,556,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,426,000 after acquiring an additional 130,584 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Univest Financial by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,197,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,390,000 after acquiring an additional 98,009 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Univest Financial by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 439,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,589,000 after acquiring an additional 19,707 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Univest Financial by 186.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 329,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 214,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Univest Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 303,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,682,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

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.