Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP)

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $23.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $22.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.58% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Univest Financial from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st.

Univest Financial Price Performance

Shares of UVSP traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.99. 10,947 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 104,281. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $619.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.63. Univest Financial has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $22.49.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Univest Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Univest Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,556,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,426,000 after purchasing an additional 130,584 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Univest Financial by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,197,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,390,000 after purchasing an additional 98,009 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Univest Financial by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 439,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,589,000 after purchasing an additional 19,707 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Univest Financial by 186.3% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Univest Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 303,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

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.