Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16, Zacks reports. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $384.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.91 million.

Universal Insurance Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UVE traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $21.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 68,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,697. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.69. Universal Insurance has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $23.39. The company has a market capitalization of $607.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $1,025,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,208,913.20. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total value of $515,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 383,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,905,993.64. The trade was a 6.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Insurance

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.