Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $16.96, but opened at $19.17. Universal Insurance shares last traded at $18.80, with a volume of 110,216 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Universal Insurance Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $547.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $380.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.09 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 21.14% and a net margin of 5.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total transaction of $449,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,082,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,318,427.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total transaction of $449,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,082,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,318,427.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 35,173 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total value of $722,101.69. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 473,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,729,146.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $1,571,502 over the last three months. 17.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVE. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the first quarter worth about $289,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 11,666.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 58,713 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 58,214 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 109.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,484 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 11,758 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 31.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 4,781 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 6.8% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 313,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,378,000 after purchasing an additional 19,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Insurance

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.