Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Short Interest Update

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 313,000 shares, a decrease of 23.5% from the October 31st total of 409,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 205,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $404,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,062,262 shares in the company, valued at $21,468,315.02. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 55,064 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,937 over the last three months. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,544,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,384,000 after buying an additional 41,425 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 56,502 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 26,873 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 135.1% in the 2nd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 76,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 43,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $783,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE UVE opened at $22.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.91 and a 200-day moving average of $20.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $644.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 0.90. Universal Insurance has a 12 month low of $15.63 and a 12 month high of $23.39.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The insurance provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.30. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $387.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $341.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Universal Insurance will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 10th.

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.