Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,720,519 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 174,843 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 6.08% of Universal Insurance worth $36,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the fourth quarter worth about $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 5,058 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Universal Insurance during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in Universal Insurance during the third quarter worth $225,000. 66.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Universal Insurance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on UVE
Insider Transactions at Universal Insurance
In related news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $441,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 990,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,863,616. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.
Universal Insurance Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE UVE traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.30. 290,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 176,418. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.18 and a 200-day moving average of $20.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $626.54 million, a P/E ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.50 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.16. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 4.82%. The company had revenue of $384.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.91 million. Analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Universal Insurance Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Universal Insurance's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Universal Insurance's dividend payout ratio is 32.16%.
About Universal Insurance
(
Free Report)
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.
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