Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

UVE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Universal Insurance currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 1.8%

UVE opened at $43.92 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.69. Universal Insurance has a fifty-two week low of $26.61 and a fifty-two week high of $45.15. 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 (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $419.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 37.67% and a net margin of 13.49%. On average, research analysts expect that Universal Insurance will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total value of $879,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,084,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,702,687.10. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UVE. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth approximately $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth $8,104,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company focused primarily on personal residential property and casualty insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

Universal’s products have historically included homeowners, condominium, renters and dwelling-fire insurance, along with related personal lines offerings.