Royce & Associates LP Cuts Stock Position in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP)

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in shares of Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 10.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 243,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,258 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.84% of Univest Financial worth $6,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Univest Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Univest Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 2,713.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 212.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Univest Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. 75.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UVSP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Univest Financial in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Univest Financial Price Performance

UVSP stock opened at $30.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $898.59 million, a P/E ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.85. Univest Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $18.17 and a twelve month high of $32.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.70. 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 (NASDAQ:UVSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 14.90%. The business had revenue of $126.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Univest Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.50, for a total transaction of $34,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,570,329.50. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael S. Keim sold 3,633 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total value of $104,485.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 14,389 shares of company stock valued at $412,352 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.