Short Interest in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Decreases By 40.4%

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 179,100 shares, a decline of 40.4% from the January 15th total of 300,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 103,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Univest Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UVSP opened at $31.23 on Friday. Univest Financial has a 1-year low of $18.41 and a 1-year high of $32.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $906.92 million, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $30.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts expect that Univest Financial will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Univest Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Univest Financial during the fourth quarter worth $289,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Univest Financial by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 6,582 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Univest Financial by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 18,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Univest Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,299,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in Univest Financial by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 77,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 6,347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.