Verition Fund Management LLC Invests $338,000 in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Universal Insurance by 80.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 132,939 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,946,000 after acquiring an additional 59,290 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Universal Insurance by 135.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 18,501 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Universal Insurance during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 79,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Universal Insurance by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 347,395 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,698,000 after purchasing an additional 63,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Universal Insurance Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Universal Insurance stock opened at $21.25 on Friday. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.63 and a twelve month high of $23.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.25. The firm has a market cap of $601.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 0.92.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $387.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business posted ($0.16) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is 26.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $404,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,062,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,468,315.02. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 55,064 shares of company stock worth $1,191,937 over the last 90 days. 17.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Universal Insurance Profile

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.