Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Univest hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $37.85 and last at $38.00 (up about 2.6%) on Friday with roughly 22,825 shares traded.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $35.00 (one Buy, three Holds); Weiss reiterated a Buy while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its target to $36 and kept a Market Perform.
• The company reported an EPS beat ($0.79 vs. $0.78) and revenue beat for the quarter, has a P/E of ~11.98 and market cap of ~$1.06B, and pays a $0.22 quarterly dividend (2.3% yield, 28% payout ratio).

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.85 and last traded at $38.00, with a volume of 22825 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.00.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania Trading Up 2.6%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.61.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $84.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $82.54 million. Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 17.51%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,004,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania in the 3rd quarter valued at about $908,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $675,000. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 21,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328 shares during the period. 75.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania Company Profile

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania is a financial holding company headquartered in Souderton, Pennsylvania, operating through its primary subsidiary, Univest Bank and Trust Co The company offers a comprehensive range of banking services, including commercial and consumer lending, deposit products, mortgage banking, treasury and payment solutions, and wealth management services. Through its community banking model, Univest serves individuals, small to middle-market businesses, and nonprofit and public institutions.

Founded in 1893 as Souderton Industrial Savings Association, Univest has grown through a combination of organic expansion and targeted acquisitions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.