Jupiter Topco LLC Acquires New Shares in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc $UVE

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 73,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,019,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVE. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 30,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Universal Insurance by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 23,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Universal Insurance by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 30,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Universal Insurance by 11.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,249 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total value of $885,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,104,645 shares in the company, valued at $48,902,634.15. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 15.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on UVE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of UVE opened at $43.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. Universal Insurance Holdings Inc has a twelve month low of $24.13 and a twelve month high of $45.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Universal Insurance Announces Dividend

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

About Universal Insurance

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.