American Century Companies Inc. Buys 57,424 Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 608,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,424 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Universal Insurance were worth $12,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Universal Insurance by 45,981.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 5,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,058 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 106,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,243,000 after buying an additional 17,614 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 18,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 195,267 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,112,000 after acquiring an additional 21,035 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Universal Insurance in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $441,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 990,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,863,616. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

Universal Insurance stock opened at $24.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $676.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.90. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.50 and a 1 year high of $24.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $384.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.91 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 4.82%. On average, research analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is 32.16%.

Universal Insurance Company 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.