Empowered Funds LLC Sells 70,599 Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its position in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 70,599 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.37% of Universal Insurance worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings 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 boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Universal Insurance by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Universal Insurance in the 2nd quarter worth $196,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Universal Insurance in the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total transaction of $449,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,082,262 shares in the company, valued at $24,318,427.14. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,064 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,937. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

NYSE UVE opened at $22.32 on Wednesday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.63 and a 1-year high of $23.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $631.43 million, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.90.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The insurance provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.30. Universal Insurance had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $387.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.98 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Insurance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio is 26.02%.

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.