Sean P. Downes Sells 15,064 Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 15,064 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.46, for a total transaction of $338,337.44. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,047,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,520,067.08. The trade was a 1.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Universal Insurance Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:UVE opened at $22.47 on Monday. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.63 and a 52 week high of $23.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.70 and a 200 day moving average of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $635.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.90.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The insurance provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.30. The business had revenue of $387.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $341.98 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 2.1% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,737,233 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,301,000 after buying an additional 35,045 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,544,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,384,000 after buying an additional 41,425 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 7.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 689,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,289,000 after purchasing an additional 49,123 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 44.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 469,803 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,814,000 after purchasing an additional 144,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 283.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 374,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,040,000 after purchasing an additional 276,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 10th.

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.