Insider Selling: Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Director Sells $801,964.80 in Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Director Jon Springer sold 16,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.96, for a total value of $801,964.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 209,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,249,971.84. This represents a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Jon Springer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 3rd, Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.77, for a total value of $1,219,250.00.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of UVE opened at $46.65 on Friday. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 52 week low of $28.32 and a 52 week high of $50.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.28 and a 200-day moving average of $39.26.

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

Universal Insurance declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, October 29th that allows the company to buy back $20 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is 8.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the third quarter valued at $341,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the third quarter valued at $545,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 7.3% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Universal Insurance during the third quarter valued at about $225,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.