Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) Shareholders to Collect $0.83 Quarterly Dividend

Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, January 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share on Monday, February 1st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 11th.

Universal Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of UVV stock opened at $39.63 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.13. Universal has a 1 year low of $38.11 and a 1 year high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $986.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.47, a PEG ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.61.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.19). Universal had a return on equity of 3.50% and a net margin of 0.67%. The company had revenue of $621.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $630.10 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Universal will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal news, Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $88,779.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,935 shares in the company, valued at $843,701.70. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Universal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Universal by 67.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Universal by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Universal by 42.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Universal by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 23,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Universal by 30.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Universal Company Profile

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agricultural products company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Through its tobacco operations, the company purchases tobacco from growers, processes and stores the leaf, and supplies it to manufacturers of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products.

Universal handles several types of tobacco, including flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured and oriental varieties, as well as other specialty leaf products.