Insider Selling: Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sells $449,400.00 in Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total transaction of $449,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,082,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,318,427.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of UVE stock opened at $21.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $629.28 million, a P/E ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.72. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.86 and a 52 week high of $23.27.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $380.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.09 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 21.14%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 424.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,395 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 17.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 11.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,963 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 1.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 235,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,424,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 33.3% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 16,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.