Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Universal Co. (NYSE:UVV) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,913,551 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,940 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Universal worth $159,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Universal by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 11,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Universal by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,218,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,730,000 after buying an additional 71,773 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Universal by 341.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 31,370 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Universal by 85.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,155 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Universal by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 575,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,540,000 after acquiring an additional 32,445 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Universal Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE:UVV opened at $54.03 on Monday. Universal Co. has a one year low of $45.19 and a one year high of $59.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Universal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Universal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

About Universal

Universal Corporation processes and supplies leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Tobacco Operations; and Ingredients Operations. It is involved in the procuring, financing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping leaf tobacco for sale to manufacturers of consumer tobacco products.