Legato Capital Management LLC Buys 19,673 Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,031 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,673 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC owned about 0.26% of Universal Insurance worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 390.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,656 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 2,114 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 492.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 11.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,249 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Kimberly D. Campos sold 879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total transaction of $29,745.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,160.48. This represents a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total value of $692,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,206,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,754,864.80. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,290,145 over the last ninety days. 15.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Universal Insurance Stock Down 1.8%

UVE stock opened at $39.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.24 and a 200-day moving average of $33.77. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a fifty-two week low of $21.96 and a fifty-two week high of $41.96.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $398.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.09 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 37.51% and a net margin of 12.22%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on UVE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Universal Insurance in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

Universal Insurance Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The company underwrites homeowners and other residential property insurance products to protect against natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, windstorms and fires. It distributes policies primarily through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering coverage for primary residences, secondary homes, condominiums, vacant dwellings and rental properties across its service territory.

In addition to personal lines, Universal provides commercial property and casualty insurance tailored to small businesses and institutional clients.