Inspire Advisors LLC Makes New $317,000 Investment in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 42.9% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 13,177 shares during the period. Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance in the first quarter valued at approximately $855,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance in the first quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Universal Insurance in the first quarter worth approximately $2,197,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 207,913 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,928,000 after acquiring an additional 10,486 shares in the last quarter. 66.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE UVE opened at $33.56 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.82. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $941.41 million, a PE ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.77.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $400.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.36 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 28.25% and a net margin of 7.74%. Analysts expect that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a yield of 195.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.09%.

Insider Transactions at Universal Insurance

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total transaction of $628,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,283,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,302,276.80. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jon Springer sold 24,308 shares of Universal Insurance stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.51, for a total value of $838,869.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 247,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,535,013.20. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,743 shares of company stock valued at $3,086,882. 16.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UVE. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Universal Insurance in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Universal Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

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.