Insider Selling: Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sells $366,200.00 in Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.31, for a total value of $366,200.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,142,262 shares in the company, valued at $20,914,817.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 1.6 %

UVE stock opened at $18.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $527.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.15 and a 1-year high of $22.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.36.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $367.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.09 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 19.67%. Research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,935,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,702,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,201,000 after buying an additional 404,446 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,387,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 250.2% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 339,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,765,000 after acquiring an additional 242,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,901,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on UVE shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Universal Insurance in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised Universal Insurance from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th.

About Universal Insurance

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.