Sean Downes Sells 20,000 Shares of Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $879,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,084,645 shares in the company, valued at $47,702,687.10. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Universal Insurance Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE UVE opened at $44.21 on Friday. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 12 month low of $24.50 and a 12 month high of $45.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $419.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 37.67%. Equities research analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.44%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 171.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 343,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,148,000 after acquiring an additional 217,184 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 805,199 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,083,000 after acquiring an additional 69,289 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 73.1% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 81,829 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 34,556 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Universal Insurance during the 1st quarter valued at about $180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UVE shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Zacks Research cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Through its subsidiaries, including Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company, the company primarily provides personal residential property insurance to homeowners.

Its products generally include coverage for homes, condominiums, renters, and related personal property, along with protection against risks such as wind, fire, theft, and other covered perils. Universal manages the insurance process through underwriting, policy administration, claims handling, and catastrophe-risk management, supported by reinsurance arrangements.

The company has historically focused on property insurance in Florida and has expanded its operations into additional states, particularly in the southeastern United States and other coastal markets.