Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Position in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,771 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Univest Financial were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 worth $11,006,000 after buying an additional 83,599 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Univest Financial by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 228,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 83,312 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Univest Financial by 91.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 31,783 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its stake in shares of Univest Financial by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 71,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 26,473 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Univest Financial by 3.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,826,000 after purchasing an additional 23,770 shares in the last quarter. 75.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Univest Financial Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ UVSP opened at $29.46 on Friday. Univest Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $18.41 and a 1 year high of $32.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.36 and a 200 day moving average of $27.47. The stock has a market cap of $855.61 million, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.88.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $126.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.11 million. Univest Financial had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 8.24%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Univest Financial Co. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Univest Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Univest Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

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.