Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Short Interest Up 43.5% in November

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 221,900 shares, a growth of 43.5% from the October 31st total of 154,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 102,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Univest Financial news, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 4,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total value of $130,553.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,592,876.25. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,601,328.04. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,374 shares of company stock worth $297,699 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Univest Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $9,245,000 after purchasing an additional 21,550 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 7,232 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,571,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,713,000 after purchasing an additional 19,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Univest Financial by 212.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Univest Financial Stock Performance

UVSP traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $31.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 102,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,099. The firm has a market cap of $922.41 million, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.85. Univest Financial has a 12 month low of $18.41 and a 12 month high of $32.75. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.28.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Analysts forecast that Univest Financial will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Univest Financial’s payout ratio 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.