Wall Street Zen Upgrades Universal (NYSE:UVV) to Hold

Universal (NYSE:UVV) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on UVV. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Universal from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research cut Universal from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Universal presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Universal Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:UVV opened at $45.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.90. Universal has a one year low of $43.36 and a one year high of $59.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.13, a P/E/G ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 2.57.

Universal (NYSE:UVV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $523.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.00 million. Universal had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 3.50%. Equities analysts anticipate that Universal will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Universal news, Director Lennart Freeman sold 1,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $88,779.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,701.70. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Universal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UVV. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Universal in the second quarter valued at about $219,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Universal by 18.0% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 23,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,610 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Universal by 30.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in Universal by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 23,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Universal by 21.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 65,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,473,000 after buying an additional 11,517 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.00% of the company’s stock.

Universal Company Profile

Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) is a global agribusiness company primarily engaged in the procurement, processing and sale of leaf tobacco. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company sources cured leaf tobacco from key growing regions in North and South America, Africa and Asia. Universal serves major multinational tobacco manufacturers by providing a full range of services including inventory management, quality control and logistics support to ensure a consistent and reliable supply of tobacco leaf.

In addition to its core leaf tobacco operations, Universal offers integrated supply-chain services that encompass warehousing, distribution and ingredient sourcing for smokeless and novel tobacco products.