Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,708 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Universal Insurance were worth $493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 27,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 4,672 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 64.6% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 201,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,468,000 after purchasing an additional 79,138 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Universal Insurance by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 7,090 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UVE opened at $22.88 on Monday. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.63 and a 1-year high of $23.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $647.28 million, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.04.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The insurance provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $387.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.98 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 4.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current 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 $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is currently 26.02%.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 15,064 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.46, for a total value of $338,337.44. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,047,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,520,067.08. This trade represents a 1.42 % 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 sold a total of 55,064 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,937 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

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.