Insider Selling: Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $441,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 990,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,863,616. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

NYSE:UVE opened at $22.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $626.39 million, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.73. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $16.50 and a one year high of $23.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is 32.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVE. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 240.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 55.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,058 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

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.