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 stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $441,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 990,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,863,616. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Universal Insurance Trading Up 0.9 %

UVE opened at $22.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $626.39 million, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.50 and a 12 month high of $23.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.70.

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

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Universal Insurance by 240.1% in the third 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 boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the 4th quarter worth about $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 5,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at about $118,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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.