Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.00 and last traded at $41.79, with a volume of 181092 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UVSP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.22.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $87.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.85 million. Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 18.25%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania’s payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Natalye Paquin sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $491,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,751.20. This trade represents a 43.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Schweitzer sold 13,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $569,999.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,521,086.83. The trade was a 11.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,268 shares of company stock worth $1,427,334. 1.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 17,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 1.7% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 3.0% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 20,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 4.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its stake in Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania by 0.9% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 79,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.07% of the company’s stock.

About Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania is a financial holding company headquartered in Souderton, Pennsylvania, operating through its primary subsidiary, Univest Bank and Trust Co The company offers a comprehensive range of banking services, including commercial and consumer lending, deposit products, mortgage banking, treasury and payment solutions, and wealth management services. Through its community banking model, Univest serves individuals, small to middle-market businesses, and nonprofit and public institutions.

Founded in 1893 as Souderton Industrial Savings Association, Univest has grown through a combination of organic expansion and targeted acquisitions.