Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE Stock Position Increased by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP grew its position in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) by 144.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,100 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Universal Insurance were worth $805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UVE. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 3.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 255,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,077,000 after buying an additional 9,046 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Universal Insurance by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 454,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,603,000 after acquiring an additional 138,732 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Universal Insurance by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 85,363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 43,210 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the second quarter worth $259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In other news, CEO Stephen Donaghy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.07, for a total transaction of $851,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,166,271.27. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Peterson sold 1,855 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.61, for a total value of $62,346.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,319 shares in the company, valued at $279,601.59. This represents a 18.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 91,163 shares of company stock valued at $3,098,566. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UVE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Universal Insurance from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Universal Insurance in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of Universal Insurance stock opened at $31.44 on Wednesday. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 52 week low of $19.46 and a 52 week high of $35.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $881.72 million, a PE ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.21.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.09%.

Universal Insurance Company 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.