UWM (NYSE:UWMC) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

by · The Markets Daily

Zacks Research cut shares of UWM (NYSE:UWMC – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of UWM in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $4.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of UWM from $5.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UWM from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BTIG Research set a $2.00 price objective on UWM in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded UWM from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $4.50 to $3.75 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.47.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on UWM

UWM Price Performance

NYSE:UWMC opened at $1.20 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $2.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.40. UWM has a 52-week low of $0.93 and a 52-week high of $7.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.94 and a beta of 1.78.

UWM (NYSE:UWMC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). UWM had a negative net margin of 1.04% and a negative return on equity of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $888.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.46 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UWM will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of UWM by 5,681.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 4,091 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UWM in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UWM by 1,410.7% in the 4th 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. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in UWM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in UWM during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 53.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UWM News Roundup

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

About UWM

(Get Free Report)

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.

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