Short Interest in UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC) Expands By 20.2%

UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 18,490,000 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the February 13th total of 15,380,000 shares. Currently, 19.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of UWM by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 415,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 149,216 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in UWM by 88.5% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 10,913 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in UWM by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 100,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 7,334 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in UWM by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 574,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,893,000 after buying an additional 7,846 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in UWM by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,218,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,064,000 after buying an additional 2,010,985 shares during the period. 53.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on UWMC shares. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 price target on shares of UWM in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UWM from $7.50 to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $6.50 to $7.50 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.25.

UWM Price Performance

Shares of UWMC traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,685,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,484,992. UWM has a twelve month low of $5.31 and a twelve month high of $9.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $6.16 and its 200-day moving average is $6.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 1.64.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $560.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.75 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UWM will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

UWM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. UWM’s payout ratio is 500.00%.

About UWM

UWM Holdings Corporation engages in the residential mortgage lending business in the United States. The company offers mortgage loans through wholesale channel. It originates primarily conforming and government loans. UWM Holdings Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan.