Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research lowered Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of UVE opened at $43.69 on Friday. Universal Insurance has a fifty-two week low of $27.89 and a fifty-two week high of $45.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.83. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.27. The company 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Universal Insurance will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.44%.

Insider Transactions at Universal Insurance

In other news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,702,687.10. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 15.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at approximately $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company focused primarily on personal residential property and casualty insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

Universal’s products have historically included homeowners, condominium, renters and dwelling-fire insurance, along with related personal lines offerings.