Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Raises Holdings in Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,812 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 772 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned 0.15% of Universal worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Universal by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 273,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,169,000 after acquiring an additional 111,691 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Universal during the first quarter worth $12,273,000. Insight Folios Inc grew its stake in shares of Universal by 7.1% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 123,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 8,222 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Universal by 7.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 54,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after buying an additional 3,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Universal by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 26,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,282,000 after buying an additional 5,104 shares during the last quarter. 81.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Universal Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:UVV opened at $57.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.60. Universal Co. has a 1 year low of $45.19 and a 1 year high of $67.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.09.

Universal announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. Universal’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Universal Profile

Universal Corporation processes and supplies leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Tobacco Operations; and Ingredients Operations. It is involved in the procuring, financing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping leaf tobacco for sale to manufacturers of consumer tobacco products.