UWM (NYSE:UWMC) Rating Lowered to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of UWM (NYSE:UWMC) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $6.50 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $4.50.

UWMC has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of UWM from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of UWM from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised shares of UWM from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $6.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of UWM from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $6.50 to $4.50 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of UWM in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UWM has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.18.

UWM Stock Up 2.8%

UWMC stock opened at $6.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -125.20 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. UWM has a 52 week low of $3.80 and a 52 week high of $8.29.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $758.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $621.60 million. UWM had a net margin of 0.48% and a negative return on equity of 5.56%. Equities analysts forecast that UWM will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UWM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 18th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. UWM’s dividend payout ratio is -800.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UWM

In other news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 596,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total value of $3,709,334.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,945,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,198,870.32. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,371,912 shares of company stock valued at $88,476,372. Corporate insiders own 87.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UWM

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UWMC. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of UWM by 449.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 76,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 62,370 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UWM by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 197,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 27,531 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UWM by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UWM by 1,002.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 29,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UWM by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 5,709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.