UWM (NYSE:UWMC) Shares Down 7.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of UWM Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UWMC) dropped 7.9% on Monday . The company traded as low as $2.05 and last traded at $2.0450. 13,095,871 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 19,156,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on UWMC. BTIG Research cut their target price on UWM to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of UWM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Argus upgraded shares of UWM to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of UWM in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of UWM in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.19.

UWM Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.72.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.03. UWM had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 1.92%.The company had revenue of $901.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.85 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UWM Holdings Corporation will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

UWM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.3%. UWM’s dividend payout ratio is 148.15%.

Insider Activity at UWM

In related news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 1,003,333 shares of UWM stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.57, for a total value of $3,581,898.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,995,754 shares in the company, valued at $10,694,841.78. This trade represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,940,338 shares of company stock valued at $76,849,387. Company insiders own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UWM by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,959,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,042,000 after buying an additional 1,676,754 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP lifted its position in UWM by 230.8% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 11,296,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,477,000 after acquiring an additional 7,881,586 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in UWM during the 4th quarter worth about $45,867,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in UWM by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,969,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,231,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of UWM by 116.6% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,991,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,803,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,806 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.59% of the company’s stock.

About UWM

United Wholesale Mortgage (NYSE: UWMC) is a leading mortgage lender in the United States specializing in the wholesale channel. The company partners with independent mortgage brokers, community banks and credit unions to offer a full suite of residential mortgage products. Through its network of third-party originators, United Wholesale Mortgage underwrites, funds and closes loans, allowing its partners to focus on customer acquisition and service.

The company’s product offerings include conventional fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, U.S.