Short Interest in UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC) Rises By 20.2%

UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 18,490,000 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the February 13th total of 15,380,000 shares. Currently, 19.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UWMC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of UWM in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of UWM from $7.50 to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $6.50 to $7.50 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UWM presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.25.

UWM Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of UWMC traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.00. 3,113,384 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,491,733. UWM has a twelve month low of $5.31 and a twelve month high of $9.74. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of -26.07 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $560.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.75 million. On average, analysts anticipate that UWM will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

UWM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. UWM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 500.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UWM by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,764,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,060,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212,081 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of UWM by 24.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,218,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,985 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in UWM by 886.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,727,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,880,000 after acquiring an additional 3,349,779 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new position in UWM in the third quarter worth approximately $21,797,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in UWM by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,592,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,723,000 after acquiring an additional 76,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.59% of the company’s stock.

UWM Company Profile

UWM Holdings Corporation engages in the residential mortgage lending business in the United States. The company offers mortgage loans through wholesale channel. It originates primarily conforming and government loans. UWM Holdings Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan.