HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 28,595 Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 28,595 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its position in Universal Insurance by 424.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,395 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 240.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Universal Insurance by 40.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Universal Insurance during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Universal Insurance during the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. 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 report on Sunday, November 10th.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Shares of UVE stock opened at $20.59 on Friday. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.78 and a 12 month high of $23.39. The company has a market capitalization of $582.41 million, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The insurance provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by $0.30. The firm 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 period last year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is currently 26.02%.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 15,064 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.46, for a total transaction of $338,337.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,047,198 shares in the company, valued at $23,520,067.08. This represents a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 17.50% of the stock is currently 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.