Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.16

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.16 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th.

Universal Insurance has a payout ratio of 21.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Universal Insurance to earn $2.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of Universal Insurance stock traded up $0.30 on Friday, reaching $23.21. 93,242 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 177,128. Universal Insurance has a 1-year low of $16.50 and a 1-year high of $24.14. The firm has a market cap of $651.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.76. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $21.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.98.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $441,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 990,200 shares in the company, valued at $21,863,616. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.