NFJ Investment Group LLC Makes New $3.27 Million Investment in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 79,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,270,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UVE. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 390.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,656 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 2,114 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 4,847.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Universal Insurance by 492.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance during the first quarter worth approximately $95,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UVE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total transaction of $885,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,104,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,902,634.15. The trade was a 1.78% 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of UVE stock opened at $42.30 on Friday. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a fifty-two week low of $24.03 and a fifty-two week high of $45.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.27. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 37.67% and a net margin of 13.49%.The company had revenue of $419.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Equities analysts predict that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

Universal Insurance Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The company underwrites homeowners and other residential property insurance products to protect against natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, windstorms and fires. It distributes policies primarily through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering coverage for primary residences, secondary homes, condominiums, vacant dwellings and rental properties across its service territory.

In addition to personal lines, Universal provides commercial property and casualty insurance tailored to small businesses and institutional clients.