Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) Stock Short Interest Report for September

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc (NYSE:UVE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,196,016 shares, a growth of 83.5% from the September 15th total of 651,620 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 170,164 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days. Approximately 5.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Sean Downes sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $879,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,084,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,702,687.10. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 15.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Insurance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Universal Insurance by 4,847.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the first quarter valued at about $95,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Universal Insurance by 170,750.0% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Universal Insurance in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Universal Insurance by 29.9% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,618 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of UVE stock opened at $46.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Universal Insurance has a 12-month low of $27.89 and a 12-month high of $47.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.69.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $419.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.62 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 37.67% and a net margin of 13.49%. Analysts expect that Universal Insurance will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UVE shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Universal Insurance from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: UVE) is an insurance holding company focused primarily on personal residential property and casualty insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to protect homeowners and other residential property owners against risks such as wind, fire, theft and other covered losses.

Universal’s products have historically included homeowners, condominium, renters and dwelling-fire insurance, along with related personal lines offerings.