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, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $526,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 951,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,066,908.78. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of Universal Insurance stock opened at $26.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $744.66 million, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.73.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.32. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 4.82%. The company had revenue of $394.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.97 million. Equities analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the first quarter worth approximately $59,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the 1st quarter valued at $64,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance during the 4th quarter worth $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

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 report on Monday, April 28th.

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.