Prudential Financial Inc. Raises Holdings in Universal Corporation $UVV

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) by 4.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 130,709 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,795 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Universal were worth $7,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Universal by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,929,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,211,000 after buying an additional 16,170 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Universal by 1.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 582,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,651,000 after acquiring an additional 7,402 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Universal by 1.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 380,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Universal by 19.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 340,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,918,000 after purchasing an additional 55,170 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Universal by 0.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 265,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. 81.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Universal Price Performance

Shares of Universal stock opened at $52.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.31 and its 200 day moving average is $55.65. Universal Corporation has a one year low of $49.40 and a one year high of $67.33.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $754.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.30 million. Universal had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 3.51%.

Universal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UVV shares. Wall Street Zen raised Universal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Universal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Universal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Universal Company 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.