UWM (NYSE:UWMC) Now Covered by Analysts at Compass Point

Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of UWM (NYSE:UWMC) in a report issued on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $8.50 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on UWMC. Zacks Research downgraded shares of UWM from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on UWM from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $6.00 price target on shares of UWM in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of UWM from $6.75 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UWM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.49.

UWM Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE UWMC opened at $3.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.64. UWM has a 52-week low of $3.64 and a 52-week high of $7.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.73 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.39.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The firm 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%. Equities research analysts expect that UWM will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

UWM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. UWM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 666.67%.

Insider Activity at UWM

In other news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 632,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $2,392,263.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,867,667 shares in the company, valued at $18,399,781.26. This represents a 11.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,797,526 shares of company stock worth $97,470,411. Insiders own 94.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UWM

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of UWM in the fourth quarter worth about $45,867,000. Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of UWM by 230.8% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 11,296,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,477,000 after acquiring an additional 7,881,586 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UWM in the third quarter worth about $32,630,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of UWM during the fourth quarter worth about $21,580,000. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UWM during the second quarter worth about $19,872,000. 53.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UWM Company Profile

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.