American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 57,424 Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 608,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 57,424 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.15% of Universal Insurance worth $12,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UVE. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 55.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Universal Insurance by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,415 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,058 shares during the period. Rockwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,373 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 18,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $441,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 990,200 shares in the company, valued at $21,863,616. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Universal Insurance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of NYSE UVE traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.30. The company had a trading volume of 290,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,418. The stock has a market cap of $626.54 million, a P/E ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.76. The company's fifty day moving average price is $21.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.50 and a 12 month high of $24.14.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $384.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.91 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. As a group, research analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Universal Insurance's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Universal Insurance's dividend payout ratio is 32.16%.

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.