Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $47.68 and last traded at $47.4710, with a volume of 11,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on UVE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Universal Insurance presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.69.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.27. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 37.67% and a net margin of 13.49%. The firm had revenue of $419.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.62 million. Analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $879,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,084,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,702,687.10. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 15.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UVE. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Universal Insurance during the second quarter valued at about $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,104,000. 66.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Universal Insurance

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company focused primarily on personal residential property and casualty insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

Universal’s products have historically included homeowners, condominium, renters and dwelling-fire insurance, along with related personal lines offerings.