Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Purchases Shares of 721,686 Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 721,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,849,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Universal Insurance in the second quarter valued at about $24,144,769,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Universal Insurance by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,007,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,861,000 after purchasing an additional 54,004 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Universal Insurance during the fourth quarter worth about $1,006,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Universal Insurance during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,413,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 72,031 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 19,673 shares in the last quarter. 66.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Universal Insurance Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of UVE stock opened at $42.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.72. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a 12-month low of $24.03 and a 12-month high of $45.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.49.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $419.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 37.67%. Research analysts forecast that Universal Insurance Holdings Inc will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Universal Insurance’s payout ratio is presently 8.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UVE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Universal Insurance from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In related news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total transaction of $885,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,104,645 shares in the company, valued at $48,902,634.15. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 15.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Universal Insurance Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The company underwrites homeowners and other residential property insurance products to protect against natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, windstorms and fires. It distributes policies primarily through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering coverage for primary residences, secondary homes, condominiums, vacant dwellings and rental properties across its service territory.

In addition to personal lines, Universal provides commercial property and casualty insurance tailored to small businesses and institutional clients.