Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 19,831 Shares of Universal Corporation $UVV

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 718 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,831 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Universal were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Universal by 67.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Universal by 507.5% in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. now owns 1,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Universal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $126,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Universal by 2,580.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 3,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Universal by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UVV has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Universal from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Universal from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Insider Activity at Universal

In other news, Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $88,779.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,701.70. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Universal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UVV opened at $39.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $982.95 million, a PE ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 2.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.73 and a 200-day moving average of $50.21. Universal Corporation has a one year low of $38.11 and a one year high of $59.38.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $523.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.00 million. Universal had a return on equity of 3.50% and a net margin of 0.67%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Universal Corporation will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Universal

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agricultural products company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Through its tobacco operations, the company purchases tobacco from growers, processes and stores the leaf, and supplies it to manufacturers of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products.

Universal handles several types of tobacco, including flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured and oriental varieties, as well as other specialty leaf products.