Azora Capital LP Purchases 7,881,586 Shares of UWM Holdings Corporation $UWMC

Azora Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of UWM Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UWMC) by 230.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,296,053 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,881,586 shares during the period. UWM makes up about 3.1% of Azora Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Azora Capital LP owned 0.71% of UWM worth $49,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of UWM in the 4th quarter worth $45,867,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of UWM in the 3rd quarter worth $32,630,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of UWM in the 4th quarter worth $21,580,000. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of UWM in the 4th quarter worth $19,303,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of UWM by 116.6% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,991,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,803,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 1,003,333 shares of UWM stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.57, for a total transaction of $3,581,898.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,995,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,694,841.78. The trade was a 25.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 22,941,486 shares of company stock worth $84,173,589 in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on UWMC shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $4.40 target price on UWM in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of UWM in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of UWM in a report on Friday, June 5th. Argus raised UWM to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded UWM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.19.

UWM Price Performance

NYSE UWMC opened at $2.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3.21 and its 200 day moving average is $4.19. UWM Holdings Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $2.25 and a fifty-two week high of $7.14.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $901.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.85 million. UWM had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 1.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that UWM Holdings Corporation will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

UWM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.6%. UWM’s payout ratio is 148.15%.

UWM 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.