UWM Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:UWMC)

UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 12,580 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 120% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,708 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 1,200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total transaction of $10,140,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,520 shares in the company, valued at $1,449,344. This represents a 87.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 94.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UWM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in UWM by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,218,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,985 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new stake in UWM during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,797,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in UWM by 13.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,712,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,870,000 after acquiring an additional 199,900 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in UWM by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,592,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,723,000 after buying an additional 76,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UWM by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,546,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 41,206 shares in the last quarter. 53.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on UWMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on UWM from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on UWM in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $7.50 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of UWM from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of UWM from $4.50 to $4.75 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on UWM from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.53.

UWM Price Performance

Shares of UWM stock opened at $6.24 on Wednesday. UWM has a 12-month low of $5.42 and a 12-month high of $9.74. The firm has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of -27.11 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.67.

UWM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. UWM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -173.91%.

UWM Company Profile

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.