Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Univest Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $926.38 million, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.07.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $126.59 million during 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 period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.63%. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 4,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,592,876.25. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total value of $104,485.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,601,328.04. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,321 shares of company stock worth $324,721. 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 business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Univest Financial in the third quarter worth about $79,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,826,000 after purchasing an additional 23,770 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Univest Financial by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 31,783 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Univest Financial by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 21,030 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Univest Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. 75.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Univest Financial Company 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.