Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on UVE. Weiss Ratings raised Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Universal Insurance from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of Universal Insurance stock opened at $48.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.80. Universal Insurance has a 12 month low of $28.32 and a 12 month high of $50.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.36. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $444.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.67 million. As a group, analysts predict that Universal Insurance will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 29th that authorizes the company to buy back $20 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Universal Insurance

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth about $111,007,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,849,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth approximately $24,144,769. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Universal Insurance during the second quarter worth approximately $10,530,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. Its primary business is personal residential insurance, with products designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

The company’s offerings include homeowners, condominium unit owners, renters and dwelling fire insurance, along with related residential property coverage.