Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $585,000 in Universal Corporation $UVV

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Universal by 67.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 16,141 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Universal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 853,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,034,000 after buying an additional 37,921 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Universal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Universal by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 25,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 12,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 6,544 shares during the period. 81.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Universal Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Universal stock opened at $51.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 3.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.30 and a 200-day moving average of $53.44. Universal Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.19 and a 52-week high of $59.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.59.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($1.54). The business had revenue of $715.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.20 million. Universal had a return on equity of 4.43% and a net margin of 1.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Universal Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Universal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is an increase from Universal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. Universal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 254.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert C. Sledd sold 2,845 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.12, for a total transaction of $153,971.40. Following the sale, the director owned 11,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $647,221.08. This represents a 19.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UVV. Weiss Ratings cut Universal from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Universal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Universal presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Universal Company Profile

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agribusiness company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company sources cured leaf tobacco from key growing regions in North and South America, Africa and Asia. Universal serves major multinational tobacco manufacturers by providing a full range of services including inventory management, quality control and logistics support to ensure a consistent and reliable supply of tobacco leaf.

In addition to its core leaf tobacco operations, Universal offers integrated supply-chain services that encompass warehousing, distribution and ingredient sourcing for smokeless and novel tobacco products.