Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 363 Shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Universal worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Universal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Universal by 57.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in shares of Universal in the third quarter worth approximately $119,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Universal by 5,210.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Universal Stock Up 0.7 %

UVV opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. Universal Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.19 and a fifty-two week high of $59.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.85 and its 200 day moving average is $53.16.

Universal declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Universal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Universal Profile

Universal Corporation processes and supplies leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Tobacco Operations; and Ingredients Operations. It is involved in the procuring, financing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping leaf tobacco for sale to manufacturers of consumer tobacco products.