Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UVE. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance in the third quarter valued at $225,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Universal Insurance by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the 3rd quarter valued at $145,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Universal Insurance by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,412 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

UVE opened at $46.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.34. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a fifty-two week low of $28.32 and a fifty-two week high of $50.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.63.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $444.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $601.67 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 13.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is currently 8.00%.

Universal Insurance declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 29th that allows the company to buy back $20 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UVE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Universal Insurance from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Universal Insurance presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.77, for a total value of $1,219,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 225,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,009,047.18. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.23, for a total transaction of $964,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 1,064,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,347,828.35. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 81,380 shares of company stock worth $3,865,415. 15.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc is a property and casualty insurance holding company whose subsidiaries provide coverage primarily for residential properties. Its products include homeowners, renters, condominium, dwelling fire and other property insurance.

The company conducts business through insurance and distribution subsidiaries, serving customers in Florida and other U.S. states. Its operations include underwriting, policy distribution, claims handling and risk management, with products generally sold through independent agents.

Universal Insurance Holdings is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.