UWM (NYSE:UWMC) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens started coverage on UWM in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $4.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $4.50 to $3.75 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of UWM in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $3.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UWM from $5.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UWM has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.47.

UWM Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UWMC opened at $1.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of -14.94 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.40. UWM has a twelve month low of $0.93 and a twelve month high of $7.14.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $888.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $727.46 million. UWM had a negative net margin of 1.04% and a negative return on equity of 5.61%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UWM will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of UWM

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UWMC. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of UWM by 5,681.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 4,091 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in UWM during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in UWM during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in UWM by 1,410.7% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 8,027 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in UWM during the first quarter worth about $55,000. 53.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about UWM

Here are the key news stories impacting UWM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UWM announced a $2.05 billion strategic equity investment from the Ishbia family and Oaktree. Management said the funding should improve liquidity, support growth and help reduce its nonfunding debt-to-equity target to approximately 1.2x. UWM Announces Strategic Capital Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue of $888.0 million exceeded the roughly $727.5 million analyst consensus, while loan origination volume reached $39.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA totaled $185.9 million. UWM Second-Quarter Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy options activity accompanied the selloff, with traders purchasing 26,964 call options—about 317% above average daily call volume. This may reflect speculative bullish positioning but does not change the company’s fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: UWM reported a $451.9 million net loss, or $0.23 per share, compared with expectations for $0.07 of earnings and $0.16 of EPS a year earlier. The sizable earnings miss overshadowed the revenue beat. UWM Q2 Loss and Revenue Results
• Negative Sentiment: The company suspended its dividend and is pursuing roughly $3 billion of total equity. Investors are concerned about the cost of the preferred-equity and warrant financing, as well as potential dilution to existing shareholders. UWM Preferreds, Warrants and Dilution
• Negative Sentiment: The capital actions signal that management is prioritizing liquidity and deleveraging over near-term shareholder returns. The combination of a dividend suspension, significant dilution risk and the quarterly loss brought the stock closer to its 52-week low. United Wholesale Mortgage Capital Raise

UWM Company Profile

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.