Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Univest Financial's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 10 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

If you want to know who really controls Univest Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UVSP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 75% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained US$77m in market cap last week. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 42%.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Univest Financial.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Univest Financial?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Univest Financial. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Univest Financial, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Univest Financial. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 12% of shares outstanding. With 9.1% and 6.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, FMR LLC and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP are the second and third largest shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 10 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Univest Financial

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We can see that insiders own shares in Univest Financial Corporation. It has a market capitalization of just US$711m, and insiders have US$13m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in Univest Financial. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Univest Financial better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Univest Financial you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com