Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Univest Financial worth $2,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $32,713,000 after purchasing an additional 19,307 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Univest Financial by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,210,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,632,000 after purchasing an additional 12,401 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Univest Financial by 21.0% during the 2nd 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. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 21,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Univest Financial by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 228,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 83,312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Univest Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of UVSP stock opened at $30.71 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.82. Univest Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $18.17 and a twelve month high of $32.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $891.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.85.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.07. Univest Financial had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Univest Financial’s payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UVSP. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Univest Financial in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Univest Financial

In other Univest Financial news, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 55,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,601,328.04. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,389 shares of company stock valued at $412,352 over the last 90 days. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Univest Financial Profile

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.