Universal Corporation $UVV Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,081 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,022 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Universal were worth $7,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVV. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Universal by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 353,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,638,000 after purchasing an additional 92,617 shares during the period. Adams Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 134,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Universal by 2.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 121,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,382,000 after buying an additional 2,369 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Universal during the first quarter worth $4,220,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Universal by 21.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 65,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,473,000 after buying an additional 11,517 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on UVV shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Universal from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Universal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Universal currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Key Universal News

Here are the key news stories impacting Universal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Universal declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, payable February 1, 2027, and authorized repurchases of up to $100 million of its shares. Dividend and share repurchase announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company appointed Gregory R. Friedman, an experienced finance and operations executive, to its board, which now has 10 members. Board appointment announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter EPS was $0.39, below the $0.58 consensus and down from $1.36 a year earlier. Revenue of $621.85 million also missed estimates of $630.10 million. Management said first-half results reflected slower timing of tobacco shipments, adding to concerns about near-term earnings momentum. Second-quarter results

Universal Price Performance

Universal stock opened at $39.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $986.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.61. Universal Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.11 and a 52-week high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 2.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.13.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.19). Universal had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 3.50%. The company had revenue of $621.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $630.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Universal Corporation will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 1st. Investors of record on Monday, January 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 11th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.4%. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 431.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Universal news, Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total value of $88,779.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,701.70. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Universal Profile

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agricultural products company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Through its tobacco operations, the company purchases tobacco from growers, processes and stores the leaf, and supplies it to manufacturers of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products.

Universal handles several types of tobacco, including flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured and oriental varieties, as well as other specialty leaf products.