Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Issues Earnings Results

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16, Zacks reports. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of UVE stock traded up $0.73 on Tuesday, hitting $20.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 222,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,417. Universal Insurance has a fifty-two week low of $16.50 and a fifty-two week high of $23.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.02 and its 200-day moving average is $20.67. The company has a market capitalization of $581.14 million, a PE ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.91.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is presently 26.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In related news, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total transaction of $515,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 383,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,905,993.64. This represents a 6.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $1,025,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,208,913.20. This represents a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.