Bailard Inc. Buys 22,400 Shares of Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP)

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 203.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. owned 0.11% of Univest Financial worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UVSP. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 186.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 329,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,731,000 after purchasing an additional 214,572 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,556,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,426,000 after acquiring an additional 130,584 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 300,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,224,000 after acquiring an additional 82,107 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 180,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,146,000 after acquiring an additional 79,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Univest Financial by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 158,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 48,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UVSP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Univest Financial in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Univest Financial from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Univest Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UVSP opened at $21.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.63. The company has a market cap of $626.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Univest Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $22.49.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $71.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.32 million. Univest Financial had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 14.98%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Univest Financial’s payout ratio is 35.15%.

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.