Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sells $964,600.00 in Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.23, for a total transaction of $964,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,064,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,347,828.35. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE:UVE opened at $47.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a one year low of $28.32 and a one year high of $50.75. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.22 and a 200-day moving average of $39.17.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $444.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.67 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 13.94%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 29th that authorizes the company to buy back $20 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Universal Insurance from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Zacks Research raised Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVE. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 83.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the third quarter worth $44,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 4,847.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the first quarter worth $95,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Universal Insurance by 170,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. Its primary business is personal residential insurance, with products designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

The company’s offerings include homeowners, condominium unit owners, renters and dwelling fire insurance, along with related residential property coverage.