Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.16, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $384.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.91 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%.

Universal Insurance Trading Up 0.9 %

UVE stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $22.15. 224,390 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 142,359. Universal Insurance has a twelve month low of $16.50 and a twelve month high of $23.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The business's fifty day moving average is $20.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $626.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.91.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a positive change from Universal Insurance's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Universal Insurance's dividend payout ratio is 32.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jon Springer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.63, for a total value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $1,025,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 985,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,208,913.20. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,450. Insiders own 17.50% 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.