Short Interest in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Declines By 19.8%

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 217,700 shares, a decrease of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 271,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 108,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company's stock are short sold.

Univest Financial Stock Performance

Shares of UVSP stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.72. 87,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 80,536. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Univest Financial has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $23.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $552.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.89.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.10. Univest Financial had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $71.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.32 million. Research analysts predict that Univest Financial will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Univest Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.85%.

Institutional Trading of Univest Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,556,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,426,000 after purchasing an additional 130,584 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 44.8% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 158,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,750,000 after purchasing an additional 48,922 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 37.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 300,547 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 82,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Univest Financial by 2.7% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 64,778 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. 75.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Univest Financial from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st.

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.