Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $441,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 990,200 shares in the company, valued at $21,863,616. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Universal Insurance Price Performance
Universal Insurance stock opened at $22.15 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $20.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.70. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.50 and a 1 year high of $23.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $626.39 million, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51.
Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.16. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $384.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.91 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Universal Insurance Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from Universal Insurance's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Universal Insurance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.16%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,720,519 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $36,234,000 after purchasing an additional 174,843 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,674,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,496,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,510,000 after acquiring an additional 6,250 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 689,767 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,289,000 after acquiring an additional 49,123 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 608,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,823,000 after acquiring an additional 57,424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Universal Insurance
Universal Insurance Company Profile
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Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. It develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages.
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