Insider Selling: Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sells 50,000 Shares of Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $1,025,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,208,913.20. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Universal Insurance Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE UVE opened at $20.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.78 and a 1 year high of $23.39. The firm has a market cap of $582.41 million, a PE ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 0.92.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The insurance provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.30. The company had revenue of $387.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.98 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Universal Insurance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is 26.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal Insurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC increased its position in Universal Insurance by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 55.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Universal Insurance by 240.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Universal Insurance by 11.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,963 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 1.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 235,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,424,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares during the period. 66.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.