Short Interest in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Decreases By 16.3%

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 316,700 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 378,200 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 146,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $1,025,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,208,913.20. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total transaction of $515,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 383,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,905,993.64. This represents a 6.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,450. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UVE. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 55.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the 4th quarter worth about $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,058 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the 4th quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,000. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UVE traded down $0.37 on Wednesday, reaching $21.44. 309,171 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 167,845. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Universal Insurance has a 1-year low of $16.50 and a 1-year high of $23.39. The firm has a market cap of $602.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day moving average of $20.80.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $384.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.91 million. Equities analysts forecast that Universal Insurance will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

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.