Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on UWM (NYSE:UWMC)

UWM Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UWMC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 54,116 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 687% compared to the average volume of 6,879 call options.

Insider Activity at UWM

In other news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 632,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.42, for a total transaction of $2,797,303.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 979,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,331,029.82. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,152,251 shares of company stock valued at $103,851,825. Corporate insiders own 94.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UWM

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UWM during the third quarter worth $1,337,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of UWM in the 2nd quarter worth $792,000. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of UWM in the second quarter valued at about $3,072,000. 683 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UWM in the second quarter valued at about $19,872,000. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of UWM by 260.9% during the second quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 573,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 414,667 shares during the period. 53.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of UWM in a research report on Friday, December 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $5.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $5.00 target price on UWM in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered UWM from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $6.00 price objective on UWM in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on UWM from $6.50 to $6.75 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.53.

UWM Price Performance

UWMC stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.90. The company had a trading volume of 33,468,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,650,498. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. UWM has a fifty-two week low of $3.79 and a fifty-two week high of $7.14.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.08. The firm had revenue of $945.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.12 million. UWM had a net margin of 0.61% and a negative return on equity of 6.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that UWM will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About UWM

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.