Jon Springer Sells 24,308 Shares of Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Director Jon Springer sold 24,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.51, for a total value of $838,869.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 247,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,535,013.20. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Thursday, October 30th, Jon Springer sold 35,435 shares of Universal Insurance stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.41, for a total value of $1,113,013.35.

Universal Insurance Stock Down 0.5%

UVE stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.22. 158,899 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 207,445. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $959.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.07 and a beta of 0.77. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $35.84.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $400.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.36 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 28.25%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a yield of 195.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.09%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 12.7% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 131,777 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after purchasing an additional 14,875 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Universal Insurance by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 23,161 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 2,980 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 212.3% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 596,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,685,000 after acquiring an additional 405,403 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Universal Insurance by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 102,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Universal Insurance by 77.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 9,109 shares during the period. 66.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on UVE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Universal Insurance in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Universal Insurance Company 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.