Insider Selling: Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $441,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 990,200 shares in the company, valued at $21,863,616. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UVE opened at $22.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $16.50 and a one year high of $23.39. The firm has a market cap of $626.39 million, a PE ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.91.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 4.82%. The company had revenue of $384.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.91 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This is an increase from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVE. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 55.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,058 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Universal Insurance during the 4th quarter valued at $118,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

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.