Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $32.51 and last traded at $32.50, with a volume of 4765 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Univest Financial Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.00. The company has a market cap of $933.35 million, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.85.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Univest Financial

In related news, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 55,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,601,328.04. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 4,541 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,592,876.25. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,321 shares of company stock worth $324,721 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Univest Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 21.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 482,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,006,000 after purchasing an additional 83,599 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Univest Financial by 57.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 228,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,425,000 after buying an additional 83,312 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Univest Financial by 91.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after buying an additional 31,783 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 71,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after buying an additional 26,473 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,826,000 after buying an additional 23,770 shares during 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.