Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Short Interest Update

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 296,900 shares, a growth of 27.0% from the February 28th total of 233,800 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 104,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Univest Financial

In other news, Director Anne Vazquez bought 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.63 per share, for a total transaction of $35,787.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,250 shares in the company, valued at $178,937.50. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Univest Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 20,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Univest Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Univest Financial by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 28,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Univest Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $354,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Univest Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Univest Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:UVSP opened at $28.73 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $833.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Univest Financial has a 1-year low of $18.41 and a 1-year high of $32.75.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.08. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 15.17%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Univest Financial will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Univest Financial’s payout ratio is 32.43%.

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.