Empowered Funds LLC Grows Position in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Univest Financial were worth $2,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 21.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 482,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,006,000 after purchasing an additional 83,599 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 57.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 228,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 83,312 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 28.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 26,234 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new position in Univest Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its holdings in Univest Financial by 5.6% in the second quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 404,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,245,000 after purchasing an additional 21,550 shares in the last quarter. 75.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 increased their price objective 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 $30.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $891.82 million, a P/E ratio of 12.33 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 $28.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.82. 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 Dividend Announcement

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 2.74%. The ex-dividend date 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,601,328.04. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. 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. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.