Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in UWM Holdings Corporation $UWMC

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UWM Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UWMC) by 6.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,282,688 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,010,907 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in UWM were worth $105,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UWMC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of UWM by 408.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in UWM during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Moment Partners LLC bought a new stake in UWM during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in UWM in the first quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, SkyOak Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of UWM in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. 53.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 632,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.03, for a total value of $2,550,482.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,330,659 shares in the company, valued at $13,422,555.77. This represents a 15.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,123,478 shares of company stock worth $96,798,007. Insiders own 87.50% of the company’s stock.

UWM Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:UWMC opened at $4.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.67 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.43. UWM Holdings Corporation has a 52-week low of $3.79 and a 52-week high of $7.14.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $945.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.12 million. UWM had a net margin of 0.87% and a negative return on equity of 1.35%. Analysts expect that UWM Holdings Corporation will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

UWM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.6%. UWM’s payout ratio is presently 666.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UWMC shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of UWM from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $5.00 target price on UWM in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $6.00 price target on UWM in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Wall Street Zen raised UWM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $4.40 target price on UWM in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UWM presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.20.

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.