Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Director Jon Springer Sells 16,380 Shares of Company Stock

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Director Jon Springer sold 16,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.96, for a total value of $801,964.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 209,354 shares in the company, valued at $10,249,971.84. This represents a 7.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jon Springer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 3rd, Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.77, for a total transaction of $1,219,250.00.

Universal Insurance Stock Down 3.1%

UVE stock traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $47.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 317,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,769. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.08. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 12 month low of $28.32 and a 12 month high of $50.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.36. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 38.15%. The business had revenue of $444.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.67 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UVE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Universal Insurance from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth approximately $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the second quarter worth $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the second quarter worth $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth $8,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. Its primary business is personal residential insurance, with products designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

The company’s offerings include homeowners, condominium unit owners, renters and dwelling fire insurance, along with related residential property coverage.