Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Acquires Shares of 15,366 Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,034,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL owned about 0.06% of Universal as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Universal during the fourth quarter valued at $71,187,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 21.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,139,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,800,000 after purchasing an additional 203,514 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 19.0% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,117,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,755,000 after purchasing an additional 178,592 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 18.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 350,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,540,000 after purchasing an additional 54,602 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Universal during the fourth quarter valued at $1,644,000. Institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Universal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 10th.

Universal Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:UVV traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 397,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,770. Universal Co. has a 1 year low of $44.40 and a 1 year high of $67.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.32 and a 200-day moving average of $54.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Universal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This is a positive change from Universal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.04%. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is 67.09%.

Universal Company 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.