Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.21

Univest Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UVSP) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th.

Univest Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years. Univest Financial has a payout ratio of 30.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Univest Financial to earn $2.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.2%.

Univest Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of UVSP traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.56. 69,457 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 79,407. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.49. The company has a market capitalization of $858.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Univest Financial has a 12 month low of $18.41 and a 12 month high of $32.75.

Univest Financial (NASDAQ:UVSP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.08. Univest Financial had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Equities research analysts predict that Univest Financial will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UVSP. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Univest Financial in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Univest Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

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.