Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $678,000 Position in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 16,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $678,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth $3,270,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth about $24,144,769,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,007,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,861,000 after buying an additional 54,004 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,413,000. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,006,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total transaction of $885,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,104,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,902,634.15. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on UVE. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of UVE opened at $43.33 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.90 and a 200-day moving average of $37.87. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 1 year low of $24.09 and a 1 year high of $45.15.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $419.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 37.67%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.44%.

Universal Insurance Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The company underwrites homeowners and other residential property insurance products to protect against natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, windstorms and fires. It distributes policies primarily through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering coverage for primary residences, secondary homes, condominiums, vacant dwellings and rental properties across its service territory.

In addition to personal lines, Universal provides commercial property and casualty insurance tailored to small businesses and institutional clients.