Stock Traders Buy High Volume of UWM Call Options (NYSE:UWMC)

UWM Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UWMC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 26,964 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 317% compared to the average volume of 6,460 call options.

UWM Stock Down 34.0%

Shares of UWM stock traded down $0.62 on Thursday, reaching $1.22. The stock had a trading volume of 53,902,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,338,480. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.78. UWM has a 1 year low of $0.93 and a 1 year high of $7.14.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $888.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.46 million. UWM had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 1.92%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UWM will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on UWM from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $4.50 to $3.75 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of UWM from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of UWM in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $4.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UWM presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ishbia Mat sold 1,003,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.39, for a total value of $3,401,298.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UWM

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UWMC. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in UWM by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 302,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 15,700 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UWM by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 482,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 184,694 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UWM by 2,453.8% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 51,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 49,322 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of UWM by 0.5% in the first quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 5,371,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,445,000 after buying an additional 26,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of UWM by 127.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,969,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,231,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,286 shares during the period. 53.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.