Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Grows Position in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,267 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,035 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.69% of Universal Insurance worth $4,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UVE. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 570,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,017,000 after acquiring an additional 285,338 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 347,395 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,698,000 after acquiring an additional 63,582 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 80.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 132,939 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,946,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 128,888.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,045 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 2,142.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 59,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 57,108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

UVE opened at $21.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.79. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.50 and a 1 year high of $23.39. The stock has a market cap of $613.62 million, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.84.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $384.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.91 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total transaction of $515,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 383,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,905,993.64. This represents a 6.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $441,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 990,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,863,616. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,000 shares of company stock worth $2,424,450 in the last three months. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Profile

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.